Risen
by Irish American 67
Summary: Since their defeat of the First, tensions in the supernatural world hidden from the mortals have grown stronger. Demons are banding together, declaring open season on the Slayers. Buffy falls in battle against a small army of vampires, and Faith is helpless to save her, she can only keep fighting, slaying. Vampire Buffy, Alt. Reality Vampire Willow. Warning: Character Death inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Risen**

Summary: Since their defeat of the First, tensions in the supernatural world hidden from the mortals have grown stronger. Demons are banding together, declaring open season on the Slayers. Buffy falls in battle against a small army of vampires, and Faith is helpless to save her, she can only keep fighting, slaying. Vampire Buffy+Alternate Reality Vampire Willow

**Chapter 1**

We're fightin' a small army of vamps. There's only about a hundred or so, but we only have ten Slayers with us right now. The rest of our forces are off fightin' elsewhere. We left ten Slayers here at our... well, I guess you could call it a headquarters or somethin', but it's really just a shack covering up a system of tunnels and caves underground. We're somewhere in the desert, where no one would notice us. We left ten Slayers there, figurin' nothing would get past the ones out there right now, fightin'. We woulda gone to fight on the front lines, too, but the rules say that we gotta keep at least ten of the best Slayers back home to protect all the information we'd gathered over the years. I hate rules, but B swears by 'em. So, I follow 'em, too.

Anyway, as I was sayin', we're fightin' a small army of a hundred vamps. We have the ten best Slayers here, true, but there's only ten of us. They outnumber us ten to one. B and I, of course, as always, fight side-by-side. Neither of us'll admit it, but we love each other, and yes, in _that_ way. Nothin's ever happened between us, we never acted on this, figured we'd have the time once we settled the baddies down and everythin' got back to normal, but I'm thinkin' things might not get back to normal anytime soon. So, when I finally have a few seconds to think, I decide I'm gonna change that. After this battle, I'm gonna talk to B about what we have. I'm gonna press her up against a wall and just kiss her, like I've wanted to since I first showed up in Sunny-D. Like I know she's wanted me to do since almost that long herself.

Three Slayers go down quickly, but they each took down at least five vamps before they got took. Then two more fall, leavin' only five of us against more than fifty vamps.

We all group up, a last stand, though we refuse to see it as such. We each hold a stake in each hand, several glass vials of holy water are strapped to our waists, and we've got garlice draped around our necks. That way, even if we get killed, the vamps won't be able to bite us, and we won't turn. Regular vamps are bad enough, the last thing we need is a bunch of Slaypires runnin' around.

Another Slayer goes down, her stakes going straight through the hearts of two more vamps, dustin' them with her last actions. We're in a circle now. B's to my left, another Slayer directly behind me, and one to my right. The remainin' vamps are circling us, waiting for one of us to lose our nerve and break formation before they strike. I manage to keep my cool by countin' the piles of dust. 49 vamps have been dusted, and we've already lost six Slayers. That leaves four Slayers to take down 51 vamps. That means an average of about 13 more vamps for each of us. Knowin' B an' me, we'll get more than our fair share, lighten the load a bit for the other two, so it should all work out fine.

Since B's been Slayer the longest, she's technically the one in charge, and we all know it, so we wait for her signal, which usually works out fine. She sees somethin', and nudges me. I see it too now. One small group of vamps are getting impatient. They'll be clumsy. I nod to her, and we wait a few more seconds, until the rest of the vamps are getting antsy as well. She whistles and the four of us lunge forward in all directions. I take down two of them at once, then kick one more in the throat before I ever touch the ground. He staggers back and brings two others down with him. My stakes take out four more before they find their feet. Then, I kick one in the head and take out his two pals.

The three I'd knocked down found me again and attacked. Just as I always do, I kill two of them at once. Two stakes come in handy sometimes. But the other one sinks his teeth into my neck as he comes up behind me, then stumbles back, hissin' as the garlic burns his entire face. I'm bleedin' bad, though. I quickly kill the one I'd kicked in the head and stake one more, then watch as the one who'd bit me disintegrates from the garlic.

I look over and see that B has one more vamp left, but she's havin' trouble. This one has experience. She goes to stake it and it sidesteps, knocking the stake out of her hand, and it ended up behind her. I started runnin', though I knew it was too late.

I hear the blood rushing in my head, but it was all I could hear. I couldn't hear the snarling of the vampires all around. I couldn't hear myself screaming as I watched the vampire's fangs sink into Buffy's neck. The neck that was missin' the string of garlic.

I wasn't fast enough. I was already light-headed from losing blood. But I managed to stake the vamp just after he dropped Buffy to the ground, dead.

I don't care about anythin' in that moment. I don't care that one of the other two Slayers just fell. Never even knew her name. I don't care that the other one just flew into a rage and finished off the vamps.

"Faith..." The other Slayer said softly when she saw me cradlin' Buffy's body, tears streamin' from my face. I don't care about my tough girl image right now. I don't care that other groups of Slayers are returning from their battles, or that Red is with them. I don't care about anythin' but the girl lyin' in my arms, the light already gone from her eyes. I didn't even hear any last words.

"Faith, we should burn her body." The other Slayer said. It was logical. Buffy had been killed by a vampire, she could rise. She might rise. She would rise.

"No!" I snapped, and she flinched back. It wasn't logical. Buffy could end up a vampire. Worse, she could end up a Slaypire. A vampire stronger than other vampires. If a Slayer has the strength of a vampire when she's alive, then she's even stronger as a Slaypire, and Buffy was one of the strongest Slayers. She could end up a powerful Slaypire, and a real pain in the neck. But I'm defending her.

"No. We're gonna bury her. Properly. No burnin'. Just... Just a burial."

"Then we should at least put some garlic around her neck or something. Maybe drench her body in holy water."

"No. We're gonna leave her as she is. I'll... I'll clean her up. I'll put her in somethin' nice. But we're gonna give her a proper burial. A nice funeral. Respectful. We're not gonna treat her as a monster."

"Faith, if it were any other Slayer, or anyone else, would you do the same?" Willow asked.

"Of course." I lied, but it was transparent.

"No you wouldn't. If it were me, or Kennedy... or even yourself, you'd have us burn the body... or take some kind of precaution against letting her rise." Willow put her hand on my shoulder, and I flinched away.

"I don't care. We're not doin' anythin' to her until we know for certain. When she first wakes up, if she does, she'll be weak. If she wakes up... I'll kill her myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Happens with all newly deads. They haven't fed yet, and they exhausted themselves dyin', then comin' back, then diggin' their way outta their graves."

"No. I mean, are you sure you'll do it?"

"Well, yeah. Tell everyone if they see B comin' outta her grave, don't engage her. I'll take her out."

"I mean will you be able to do it? Emotionally, I mean. Will you be able to bring yourself to do it?"

"I'm gonna have to, now, aren't I?"

"I guess so." Willow patted me on the back, like it was actually comfortin', and went and spread the word throughout the troops.

I picked up Buffy's body and carried her out into the desert. I found the place I was lookin' for easily. It was a large cemetary, full of dead Slayers. Of course, none of them had been killed by vampires. Those ones would have been burned already. Some of the survivors were already setting to work buryin' the freshly killed Slayers. I wove my way through graves, and listened to the gasps of disbelief as they all saw Buffy in my arms. Yeah, they were surprised she was dead, but that's not what they couldn't believe. All Slayers are gonna die. More than likely die young, too. No, they were gaspin' at the bite marks of Buffy's neck, knowin' as well as I did that she was gonna rise, a Slaypire. And she was definitely gonna kill some Slayers before I took her down. I made a bad call, I know that, but it's one I'm gonna stand by.

Buffy just doesn't deserve to be killed when she can't defend herself, that's all. She deserves a fightin' chance. I owe her at least that much, though even if I die, she'll never suvive. We got an army of almost a thousand Slayers still, all of 'em are here, 'cept maybe a few that are still out fightin'. The only way either of us is gonna survive is if I kill her and survive. Then again, seein' as I broke protocol, the higher-ups'll probably have my head, anyway, so we're both doomed. Oh well. At least we'll go out with a bang.

I find a spot secluded, away from the rest of the dead Slayers. I make a point of drawing lines in the sand. Sure, they'll probably disappear after a while with the wind, or little desert critters walkin' all over them, but my point is made as I look each and every single Slayer still alive in the eyes who can see me.

_Don't cross this line_. The lines are a good twenty feet long, and they surround a square area I picked out for Buffy's spot. One of the Slayers walk up to me and nods, holdin' out a shovel. Her point is made, too. IfI wanna bury her, I'll have to do it myself. I didn't have a problem with that. I was gonna do it myself, anyway. I take the shovel and set to work diggin'

The sun's come up now. It's nearly noon, so it's hot as Hell out, literally. I finally finished the digging. You'd be amazed how hard it is to dig a grave in the desert sand, when the wind keeps blowing the sand back into the hole. But finally, it's done. I stick the shovel into the ground by the hole and look around.

I can see everyone that ever meant somethin' to B standin' around, not crossin' the lines that were now barely visible, but I can see in their eyes the thanks. Giles. Willow. Xander. Angel's wearin' that gem of Amarra thing, or whatever it's called, so even he's here. Dawn... Little Dawn. They're all thankin' me in their eyes for doin' this for Buffy, so I nod back. I think back to everyone else that'd mattered to B. _Really_ mattered, I mean, 'cause B was the type that saw everyone as important as each other. Strangers... even strangers. But I mean those that had known Buffy.

I think of Spike. Personally, I didn't much care for him. He was a vampire, I'm a Slayer, we're kinda natural enemies. But, he saved B's ass a couple times, and he and I got along well enough when we hung out in B's basement, until he went and martyred himself to save the world.

I think of Joyce. Joyce Summers was like a mom to me for a while. Until I went rogue, that is. Sucks that she's not here right now, though she would be if she was alive, I know that.

I think of that witch... What was her name again? I don't really remember if I ever even met her, but I saw her picture every day at B's house. Buffy definitely cared about her. The one that turned Red gay. The one that got shot. Way she's talked about... kinda wish I'd known her myself.

I plop down on the sand, exhausted. I see a scorpion next to me, but I don't bother. Too many living things have died already. The gang all gathers around me and helps me up again. Red used some kinda magic to bring a bit of water to the surface for me to drink, then lets it all flow back into the ground. I look over and see Dawn wrappin' Buffy's body in a nice silk sheet. Buffy always did like the soft, smooth stuff. The dry ground around them grows dark every few seconds when their tears hit the ground.

I watch as they cover her face. I still can't believe she's dead... I feel, rather than see Red bury her face in Xander's shirt, sobbin', and I smell their tears. The smell of mine quickly joins theirs, and I don't even try to stop them. What's the point? I only ever put on that tough girl act for Buffy, and now she's gone...

"Damn it." I say so only I can hear.

I say that I wouldn't let anyone kill Buffy because she deserved a fightin' chance, but the truth is... I just never got to say what I wanted to say. I can't let that fly. I won't let that fly.

I walk over and start to pick Buffy up, but Xander stops me. He pushes me away gently. The message is clear.

_It's our turn to do something for her._

He and Giles team up. Giles wraps his arms around Buffy's torso, and Xander gets her legs, and they jump into her grave, careful not to let her fall. They set her down gently, then climb back out. Angel fills the hole in again, and we all just stand by and stare. I hear Willow muttering something under her breath, then watch as the sand above Buffy's head starts to rise on it's own, and change. When she's finished, Buffy has a headstone made of glass. I can clearly read the words.

Here lies Buffy Anne Summers. A friend. A sister. A Slayer. A hero. We owe her our lives.

She didn't put her birth date or any of her death dates on the marker. Somehow, it just makes her seem... immortal. Like some kind of goddess. And I like that.

Giles took Dawn home soon after. It was going to be a long flight back to England, where the two of them lived. Angel had to get back to LA, too. Somethin' that needed to be cleaned up or somethin'. Xander and Willow left, too, though they didn't say why.

I stood in the hot sun, just waiting.

Finally, late that night, I see the sand shift. Not long after, a pale hand slowly claws its way up out of the ground.

I watch Buffy come up slowly. First her hands, then I see her hair, then her face. Once her shoulders are up out of the ground, she has no difficulty getting out of the ground.

I shiver at the sight of her grotesque face. The face of a demon.

"So. You let me rise." Buffy said, and her voice sounds almost... disappointed.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"'Cause I couldn't stand the thought of kickin' you while you were down. If you're gonna die, you'll be able to fight tooth and nail."

"Hmm, you know, if I were still human, I'd probably smack you. You don't _ever_ let a Slayer become a vampire. But... seeing as I'm not... I'm actually kind of glad you decided to ignore the rules this time."

"Figured as much. I mean, I know you're not actually Buffy anymore... You never will be again. Buffy's gone. That's it. She's gone. You're just a shadow. But... I don't know, I just figured it might give me some kind of relief if... If I can say it..."

"Say what?"

"Something I told myself I was gonna say it after the battle... but you... she died."

"Okay. Fine. As a courtesy for letting me rise, I'll let you say what you need to say before I kill you."

Ow. That really hurt. It's not actually Buffy sayin' it, of course, but it still hurts to see her lips forming the words.

"Alright." I swallow. "Buffy... I know you're probably not really in there, but I'd still like to say this, anyway. Because, ya never know, right? I mean, you've died and come back twice already, what's a third time, right? Anyway... I... I love you, Buffy."

I see surprise flicker across Buffy-vamp's face, then disappear.

"Oh, I see. You thought you'd throw me off with that, and you'd be able to kill me easily."

"No. It's the truth. I know Buffy would never let somethin' like that stop her. I know it won't distract you. I know we're gonna fight, and I know there's a good chance I'm gonna die. I just... I had to say that, at least once. I love Buffy. I really love her." As I say that again and again, I find tears welling up again in my eyes, and I try to stop them this time, knowing they'll get me killed, but then I realise something. I don't care if I die.

I let them fall, and I fall with them. I've never felt so vulnerable... not even when I woke up from my coma. I'm starin' a deadly vampire in the eyes, knowin' she could easily kill me any time she wanted, but I don't care. In fact, I think some part of me wants to die. Maybe I'd find Buffy wherever I went.

"Faith?" I hear Buffy-vamp ask curiously. She kneels down beside me and brushes my hair from my face.

My survival instincts kick in, though I really don't want them to. I want to die, but my body craves life. I find myself straddlin' Buffy, my stake pointin' at her chest, touchin' her sternum between her breasts.

"I should have known it was a trick." Buffy growls angrily, though she resigns herself to her fate.

I close my eyes and sigh as I throw my stake away and roll off of her.

Buffy jumps to her feet and growls, but her eyes betray her confusion.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I... I can't kill you." I say, and it's as much a revelation to me as it is to her. "So you might as well just kill me. Get it over with. 'Cause I'm not gonna fight you."

Buffy grins and lunges at me, fangs shining in the moonlight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Risen**

**Chapter 2**

Just when she's about to hit me, end my life, somethin' slams into her side, knockin' her away. I nearly groan in disappointment, but then my curiousity forces me to look towards my rescuer and see who it is.

I see a flash of dark hair, and caramel skin as Kennedy fights Buffy mercilessly, tryin' to stake her every few seconds. Finally, Kennedy strikes out with her leg and twists, trippin' Buffy to the ground and pouncin' on her. I see the stake descend, and my mouth moves of its own free will.

"No!" I scream, startlin' both Buffy and Kennedy. Hell, I startled myself.

Buffy recovers first. She flips them over and sinks her fangs into Kennedy's neck. I'm too stunned to stop her as she drains her dry, then rips out her throat with her fangs. Kennedy won't be comin' back.

She looks at me, blood drippin' freely from her mouth, and she doesn't bother cleanin' up.

"Why?" she asks me.

Why? Why is a good question. Why did Buffy let that vamp get her? Why did Buffy come back as a vamp? Why was I still in love with her, a monster? Why couldn't I slay her? Why didn't Kennedy let me die? Why _did_ I save Buffy's... undeath? There's only one possible answer.

"I don't know. I just did it." I answer.

"Not good enough. Try again."

"Like I said. I don't know. I... I love ya, B, but you're not Buffy anymore. You're a monster. I kill monsters."

"But you refuse to kill me." It wasn't a question.

"No. Not that I refuse. I just... can't. I _can't_ kill you."

"And you can't watch me turn to dust, either."

"No." I agree. "I can't."

"Well, looks like we're in a bit of a predicament, then, aren't we?"

"How so?"

"You can't kill me. You can't watch me die. You'd let me kill you before you'd fight me. And I want to kill you bad... very bad."

"Then do it."

"But I can't. I mean, I could, but if I killed you, then I'm dead. Nearly a thousand Slayers in the Underground, and every one of them will want to drive a stake through my heart, or chain me down and watch me burn in sunlight, or give me a bath in holy water, or hang me with a string of garlic, or crucify me on a... crucifix. There are many different creative ways to kill a vampire, and they'll want to try them all out on me. I mean, I didn't have a choice in becoming a vampire, but since I was a Slayer, and now I'm a vamp, I'm some kind of traitor, right? You're my only chance of survival. I could kill you and run right now, but I wouldn't make it out of the desert before sunrise, so I'd be dead. I could kill you and hide back down in my grave, but they'd know it was me, and they'd dig me up and watch me burn in the sunlight. But since I'm dead, you're the highest ranking Slayer in the Slayers Army. That means you can keep me alive by telling people not to kill me."

Oh, I see. I'm supposed to be her meal ticket. That's just great.

"Or..." I say, "I could just go pick a fight with a big group of vamps. Probably take a bunch of 'em out before I get done in. I do the world a service, I get my release, and since I won't take my own life, it's technically not suicide, so I get a one-way ticket to Buffy. I get to be with the real Buffy, you and my body as a vampire get killed by the thousands of Slayers that'll be searchin' for us. It's a win for me. You lose, though. Sorry about that."

"Oh, but we both know you're feeling guilty."

"How's that?"

"For letting me die. Or, for letting Buffy die and become me. You couldn't get to her fast enough to save her, so you feel guilty for letting her die."

"Makes sense. But guilt doesn't really mean anythin' when you're dead. Or so B's told me."

"But you won't do it. Get yourself killed, I mean. Because of your guilt. You're going to protect me. We both know it's true. Because, to you, at least, it'll seem like you're making it up to Buffy."

I curse under my breath. I know she's right. There's no way I'm gonna let Buffy-vamp get killed if I can help it. And that means no suicide missions.

"Fuck." I say, and she smiles. I think she was bluffin', not at all sure that she was right, but now she's relieved. Now she knows she's right.

"There's a girl." She says, grinnin'. "Let's get outta here." She turns towards Kennedy's corpse. "What do we do about _that_?"

I don't like the way she says "that" instead of "her".

"It's a her. Not a that. Her name's Kennedy. You know that. You trained her yourself. It's Red's girl."

"Right, well, the thing is, I don't care. She tried to kill me, so I tried to kill her right back. Thing is, I'm the one that succeeded. Sucks for her and all, but I prefer it this way. Dust just isn't a good look for me, and I think you agree."

"B, just listen to me. This isn't gonna be one of those things where I'm your bodyguard, and you can do whatever you want because I won't hurt you. If this is gonna work, you're gonna have to do what I say this time."

"Right. Right. Whatever you say."

"I mean it, B." I growl, and I think I get the point across, 'cause she just stares at me in surprise.

"Fine." She sighs. "What do we do?"

"I'm gonna take you back to the Underground and lock you up. If they think you're a prisoner, they might be more willing to let you... well, not exactly live, but not die, either."

"You realise they're going to make you assign a guard to watch me at all times."

"I know. Most of the time, it'll be me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Seein' as I'm the one who didn't slay ya, you're gonna be my responsibility."

"Aww, that's sweet." Buffy-vamp taunted. "I guess we'd better get inside, then. Sun's going to be up soon, and like I said, dust isn't a good look for me."

Faith nodded as she escorted Buffy-vamp back into the tunnels that served as the Headquarters for the Slayers.

...

"What the hell were you thinking, Faith?" Giles screams at me from his seat around the Council Chamber.

Three weeks ago, I brought a Slaypire into the Underground, and no one is thrilled about it.

I look around at the Councillors seated around the cavern. Most of them are former Watchers from before the Watcher's Council was destroyed, though there are others here. There are two seats reserved for Slayers. I'm sittin' in one proppin' my feet up on the rail in front of me. The other seat belonged to Buffy, but passed to Kennedy when Buffy died. Now it was empty, since we haven't decided on someone to fill it.

Giles and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce are sittin' with the other Watchers. The other four are just some rich old British snobs that I didn't bothered to learn their names.

Red's seat's also empty since she locked herself in her chamber in grief after Kennedy died. Angel's sittin' in the only seat reserved for ensouled vampires, even though they're becomin' common 'cause of rituals done by witches and gypsies, and deals made with upper level demons, like the one Spike got his own soul back from.

Oz is silent, as usual, leavin' the rest of us to scream at each other. Dawn's here, too, in the last seat on the Council, and is actually handling herself well. She's really the only one takin' my side on this. It shocked the hell outta everyone when she was voted to her seat by a majority vote by the Slayers, even though she's just a human.

"I don't know, G. I was just thinkin' maybe we could find some demon or somethin' who owes us a favor, maybe get B's soul back. I mean, sure, she'll need to pass some kinda test, right? So what? It's no big deal. If that stupid vampire martyr, Spike, can do it, can anyone doubt that Buffy the fuckin' vampire slayer can do it? Eszpecially now that she's got the strength of a Slaypire."

"Faith, it's absolutely absurd!" One of the Watchers shouts, and everyone else agrees, 'cept Dawn, Angel and Oz.

"Look, all I'm sayin' is that I'm tired of havin' to cut the heads offa every Slayer who bites the dust, just to be on the safe side! It sucks!" I stand up, tryin' to get my point across. "I get to know these girls! These girls are out there every fuckin' day and night riskin' their lives so you Watchers can sit back on your asses and not do a thing! They're the ones out there gettin' their throats ripped out, or their hearts crushed, or their heads cut off, and we don't even give them any kind of markers or send their bodies back to their families, those that have 'em. We just go 'Oops, there goes another one. Hmm, there's as good a spot as any to bury her. Cut her head off so she doesn't come back and kill us then just cover her up with sand!' I'm out there with them, and the next time I fight might be my last! And all you dirtbags do is sit back and laugh while drinkin' tea and eatin' fish and chips or some shit like that! I'm twenty-one, and every birthday I see is less likely than the one before it! Chances were I wouldn't live to see eighteen, and when it happened, it was even more unlikely that I'd make it to nineteen! There's no way in hell that I'd have made it this far without B, so there's no fuckin' way that I'm gonna kill her! And there's also no way I'm gonna let her die like some dog, just lay down and take it!"

"Faith, could it be that you're letting your own personal feelings cloud your judgement?" Wesley asks.

"Watch it, Watcher. You're barkin' up at the wrong tree." I growl.

"Oh, come now, Ms. Lehane, it's not exactly a secret that you have... feelings... for Ms. Summers." Another Watcher says. "It's not unusual for Slayers to become attracted to other females. It's actually happened numerous times throughout history. In fact, I'd even say that eighty percent of the Slayers who made it to the age of sexual maturity carried on sexual relationships with another female. It's because of the connection they make with the girl. They envy normal teenage girls and their ability to have a normal life, and the desire for that life is so strong that they become attracted to one or more other females as an attempt to live vicariously through them. And since Ms. Rosenberg cast the spell that awakened all Slayers, it's become common for two Slayers to become attracted to each other as well, as is apparent by Ms. Summers' brief... rendezvous... with the young Slayer, Satsu."

I feel myself tense up at the mention of the only girl B ever slept with.

"It's all in the past!" Dawn screams back at the Watcher, and I'm grateful that the attention's been shifted from me. I didn't exactly ask to be a part of the Council. Like I told B once, I'm no leader. But I figured I might as well have my say in how things get done. "Who cares if Faith had the hots for my sister? The point is, Buffy saved everyone in this room, as well as every one else, both ignorant and knowing, in the world numerous times! She died saving everyone from the Master, she stopped the Mayor of Sunnydale from taking over the world as a giant worm demon, she took down a demon/robot hybrid thing and stopped a secret governemt agency from creating more of them at the same time! She beat a hellgod who tried to destroy the world, and she stopped the First from... doing whatever it was going to do! How many of you have ever even actually slayed a vampire outside of your "controlled circumstances"? _I've_ logged more actual field time than most of you, Giles and Wesley excluded, of course.

"I think Buffy deserves another chance." Dawn adds, then sits back down.

"Ms. Summers, Ms. Lehane, I understand you have personal feelings involved in this, and that those feelings are clouding your judgement in this matter." The first Watcher says softly, trying not to raise his voice. "But what you have to realise is that _any_ Slayer, let alone one with as much strength and experience as Ms. Summers, is dangerous as a vampire. One of these... Slaypires, as you call them, could cause havoc amongst the organization. Imagine what Ms. Summers herself could do?"

"That's why Faith is suggesting we find a demon capable of restoring Buffy's soul." Angel counters. "If we restore her soul, she won't be a danger to the organization."

"Well, the idea is intriguing, but I'm afraid we cannot sanction this." The second Watcher replies.

"I think that that should be put to a majority vote." Oz says.

"Very well." A third Watcher agrees, this one female. "But there is something I think we should address first."

"What might that be, Vera?" Giles asks.

_So her name's Vera?_

"I believe that a number of the present Councillors are too emotionally attatched to the matter at hand to provide unobjective insight as to howwe might handle this. As such, I believe we should put it to a majority vote to determine whether or not Ms. Lehane, Ms. Summers, Angel and Mr. Giles should be allowed to vote on this matter. Do I have a second?"

One of the other Watchers raises his hand, and I know where this is goin'.

"Very well. Article 14 of the Slayer Organization Covenant states that in matters pertaining to one or more Council members and their eligibility to participate in deciding the outcome of any business the Council addresses, said Council members are forbidden from voting themselves as eligible due to emotional connection to the case. Therefore, Councillors Angel, Summers, Lehane and Giles are forbidden from voting on this matter. As such, I vote them ineligible." Vera says, and I can see the contempt in her eyes as she glares at me.

"I vote aye as well." The first Watcher said, the same look as Councillor Vera in his eyes.

"Nay!" Wesley shouts, outraged, but I already know how this is gonna end.

"Aye." The other two Watcher whose names I still can't remember, vote.

"Nay." Oz sighs, but it's two to three. Angel, Giles, Dawn and me are outta the vote.

"Now, to address the matter Councillor Faith has brought up, the matter of the restoration of Buffy Anne Summers' soul. I vote nay." The first Watcher, I think his name is something like Charles or some stupid British name like that, says.

"Nay." Two of the other Watchers agree, and I think it's all over. Even if Wesley and Oz both vote in favor of it, Vera will vote against it, and Buffy's gonna die.

"Aye." Oz says, but he's done the math, too, and he looks helpless as I feel.

"Aye." Everyone turns in shock to Vera, who, if I heard right, she just voted in favor. I think I remember reading somewhere in the rule book or somethin' that when we're talkin' about something that might end up helpin' us in the long run, and the Council votes on it, and it ends in a tie, then whoever was the one who brought up whatever we're votin' on votes again, and that vote decides what we're gonna do. Which means I'm about to vote to get B's soul back.

But then it all falls apart when I notice Wesley hasn't voted yet, and he won't meet my eyes.

"N-n-n... nay." He mutters.

"I'm sorry?" One of the Watchers asks.

"Nay." Wesley whimpers.

I slump back into my seat.

"Faith, we can't allow Buffy even the slightest chance to escape." Wesley pleads with me. "And we can't bring a demon here, it would risk him leading other demons here!"

"Shut up, Wesley." Giles growls, and everyone starts shufflin' outta the chamber, 'cept Dawn, Wesley and me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Risen**

**Chapter 3**

Wesley whimpers as he looks at both me and Dawn in turn.

"I thought I could fuckin' trust you."

"Faith, I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, but we really can't allow Buffy the s-s-slightest chance o-o-o-of escape! If she escapes, then everything we've worked so hard for will mean nothing!"

"We?! I don't see you out there riskin' your ass every fuckin' night to save the world! You don't get to say 'we'. You are not part of 'we'. 'We' is me, an Red, and Angel, and Oz, and all the other werewolves and Slayers. 'We' is Kennedy. 'We' is Buffy. 'We' is not you and the other Watchers. Not even Giles is 'we', but he does more good than the rest of you Watchers put together! So don't you _dare_ try to say what's best for _us. _Don't you _dare_ try and say that keepin' B alive is gonna jeopardize everything _we_ have done, because _you _haven't done _shit_!"

"But-!" Wesley tries to protest.

"No! Just shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear a damn thing you have to say! Because of you, the Council's gonna try and force someone to kill her! And you know damn well that the only one who's capable of doin' it is me!" My voice is crackin' up, and I'm chokin' on my words as my tears start fallin', but I can tell he's still terrified of me. I sit back down and bury my face in my hands as I start sobbin' uncontrollably. I can't stop myself, I just let it all out.

Eventually, I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I look over to see Dawn standin' beside me, tears streamin' from her own eyes. I pull her in close and we just hold each other tightly, thinkin' the whole time 'bout B.

"They're right, Dawn." I sob. Dawn leans back and stares at me, unsure what I'm talkin' about. "I _do_ love her. I'm in love with Buffy."

Dawn nods and pulls me in tighter than before.

"I was gonna tell her after that battle. That I love her, I mean. I know she did, too. I had this plan, right? I was gonna just walk up to her and push her up against the wall, and kiss her. I wanted to be the one to make that first move. I... I shoulda done it before. Before we got busy fightin' those vamps." I can barely see though my tears. "Shoulda done it before. She wouldn't have given in. She wouldn't have let herself get killed. She'd be here if I'd just made the move. I waited too long."

"Faith!" Dawn says, and I realise that she's been tryin' to calm me down. "You can't blame yourself!" Dawn's sobbin' too, and I can barely understand what she's sayin'.

"It's not your fault she's... she's gone. It's not your fault, it's not my fault, it's not her fault. It's not anyone's fault. It just happened. We can't blame ourselves for it." When the hell did little Dawn get so fuckin' grown up? "But there's only one thing we can do now. We have to help her. We have to save Buffy."

"Dawn?" I sit back and look her in the eyes. I look around and find that Wesley's already left.

"We can't let the Council kill her. We have to go get her soul back."

"Do you really think she actually _wants_ her soul back?" I ask.

"No. But that thing that's in her body isn't Buffy. That's a monster. And Buffy would definitely want to come back, if it meant she could finally be with you. She never told me, but I could see it. She was in love with you, too. There's no way Buffy wouldn't want to come back for you."

"But... What if she's in heaven? She told me what happened after that hellgod. She went to heaven when she died, but Red thought she was in hell, so the Scoobies tore her out. What if we're doin' the same?"

"I don't think we are. It's just a gut feeling. I feel like we actually need to do this. It's like I can actually feel her... suffering. I think she's hurting, Faith. We have to save her."

I nod in agreement. I swear, I can feel her hurtin', too. "So we're breakin' B out?"

"Yeah. But it'll take a while. I have a plan. I have a feeling the Watchers will want to make an example of her, so we have a few days before they have all the arrangments made, then they'll have someone kill her. We have a few days. I need to get Xander, Giles, Willow, Angel, Oz, everyone. I need to get them in on it. We're going to need their help."

"Yeah. I know. I don't care what we have to do, I just wanna save her."

"I know. Me too."

I'm standin' outside the cage they put Buffyvamp in, starin' at her. I swear, she acts so much like B did. She's pacin' back and forth, like she's nervous when I'm starin' at her. Every so often, she realises that she's pacin', so she'll sit down on the small cot that's in all of the cells. She puts her hands on her knees and sighs in boredom. Finally, she gets up and walks over to me.

"I take it they're going to kill me." It's not a question.

"They're gonna try. Probably gonna try and make me do it. Since you killed Ken, I'm the only one who even has a chance of killin' you."

"Then I guess I'm safe." Buffyvamp smirks.

"No you're not. I can't kill ya because... well... I just can't. But when I refuse to kill ya, they'll kill me, then they'll just starve you or somethin'. You'll grow weaker over time, and then they'll have someone kill ya."

"Or, they'll underestimate me, and I'll kill whoever they send after me, get my strength back, and escape."

"Well, now there's a plan."

"What? You're agreeing that I should kill someone?"

"No. I'm agreein' with that last word you said. Escape. That sounds like a plan."

"What?"

"Two plus two equals four, B. You're gonna escape."

"How?" Buffyvamp asks suspiciously.

"I'm gonna help you. 'Course, once you're gone, they're gonna realise I helped, so they're gonna want to kill me for treason or somethin'." I say. I admit, I was testin' her, hintin' that I was comin' with her, hopin' that, maybe, she'll want me to come along.

"Well, that sucks for you. I may be a vampire, but if they caught me, they'd make it a quick re-death. Mainly because that's the only way they're going to be able to kill me. But traitors... You'll probably die slowly."

I scoff. Of course she wouldn't want me. She's a fuckin' vampire. She doesn't love. She's just a demon.

"I mean, unless you're getting at something."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, if you're planing on coming with me, just say it. I mean, I could use someone to keep an eye out for me in the day time. I'm kind of allergic to the sun now, you know."

I know vampires don't have a soul anymore, unless they get it back, of course, but I swear, I see somethin' right now in Buffyvamp's eyes. It could be my eyes playin' tricks on me, makin' me see what I want to see, but I can hear it in her voice, too. It's not that she won't argue with me if I wanna go with her, she _wants_ me to go with her, and not just for daytime protection. There's a look in her eye, and in the way she's holdin' herself right now, and a sound in her voice, it's all beggin' me to go along with her, it's all screamin' the same message I've been gettin' from B for a long while. Somehow, the monster in front of me never forgot Buffy's love for me.

Suddenly, I'm snapped out of my thoughts by the discovery that we'd been leaning into each other through the bars separatin' us. Our lips were so close, I could feel her breath on my lips, even though she doesn't need to breath anymore.

I pull away before it can go any further, and Buffy's shoulders slump in disappointment. I don't think she even noticed that.

"Well, let's see, if I stay here, I get found out, I die. The Council tracks you down and finds a way to kill you. They discover that Dawn and the others helped out, and they all die, too. Or, we can all leave and all go our separate ways, they track us down and kill us all one by one. Or... We all run, and we stay together. Keep each other alive. Give ourselves a fightin' chance." I smirk as I see Buffy's expression go from disappointment to surprise. "I think that door number three is the only one that involves most of us survivin'."

"So you're coming with me?"

"Well, I think we're gettin' ahead of ourselves. We're not outta here yet. Don't think we should make any plans until we are. It'll take a few days to get everyone up to speed, so for now, we'll just have to sit tight and hope the Council isn't as fast as we think they are. Hope they don't move the plans up. They've set your execution for midnight two weeks from today. So, I figure we've got about a week to get you out of here. You know how they work. They make everyone think that they've got enough time to plan, then they move plans up at the last minute. Two weeks usually means one week."

Buffy nodds.

"But yeah, if we get outta here in one piece, I'm comin' with ya."

"You are?" I can hear the hopefulness in her voice before she clears her throat. "You know, 'cause I don't really feel like dying anytime soon. Like I said, need a daytime guard."

"Right." I agree. _Is it possible? Can she actually still love me?_ As soon as I think this, she wipes the look off her face and puts the mask of indifference back on, and all emotion is gone just as quick as it appeared.

_Nah. She's just usin' B's love to get to me. Vampires can't love._ I frown as I turn and walk away, sitting across from the cell. I was assigned the duty of keepin' an eye on her since I was the one that brought her here. She's my responsibility, after all.

"Well, I've got a problem. Or, rather, you do."

"What's that?"

"See, I'm feeling kind of horny right now."

"How's that _my_ problem?"

"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be keeping an eye on me. That means you have to watch my every move."

I suddenly get what she's gettin' at.

"No way. Hell no. Just keep your pants on, B."

"You don't have to _help_ or anything. I mean, sure, feel free. I could do with a good fuck. But if not, looks like you'll just be watching me."

"What?! No!" I say, but she's already pullin' her pants down, smirkin' at how uncomfortable she's makin' me feel.

"Oh, what's the problem, Faithy? Never watched a girl get off before? 'Cause I have. Twice. I'm not talking about myself. You remember a nice, gorgeous young Slayer by the name of... Satsu?" She draws out the name, knowin' it'll piss me off.

"Shut up." I don't need a reminder that Satsu had her first. Not countin' guys, but I don't really count those three. No, really only two names really get to me when it comes to B. Angel and Satsu. Angel was her first. Her real first. Satsu was her first and only girl. True, first girl isn't really as big a milestone as first time, but it still gets to me. Call me wierd, but Buffy sleepin' with Satsu was like she lost her virginity all over again, and neither time was to me. Shit like that never used to bother me. Never really cared how many girls a guy fucked before, but for some reason, it really bothers me that Buffy's already given herself to other people. I don't know, guess I just always expected her to stay pure forever, 'cause she just seemed like that type of person.

"What's wrong? Don't like that name?" Buffy asks, like she's talkin' to a fuckin' toddler. "How about this one: Angel?"

I growl at the name. That one pisses me off even more than Satsu, though only when it comes to B. Any other context, and it doesn't bother me. Probably because of everythin' Angel's done for me.

"B, I'm warnin' ya."

"What are you going to do about it?" Buffy smirks.

"Please, just... just leave it be."

"Ooo, them's fighting words!" Buffy says in mock-seriousness. She lets her dirty jeans fall to the ground, and I gulp, seein' her small, thin, pink panties. I don't like pink. I despise pink. But fuck if I'm not turned on right now.

Her shirt slowly joins her jeans on the floor, and every inch of skin she reveals causes my breath to hitch.

She smirks again as she watches my face. I imagine I look pretty fuckin' hilarious to her right now. I quickly regain myself, but she knows she's gettin' to me.

Her thumbs hook under the thin waistband of her panties as they slowly start sliding down her hips. Just another inch or so and her pussy'll be clearly visible. I suddenly find myself unable to form mouth with my words.

My mush is turning to mind as her legs start slowly sliding down her long undergarments. And now I'm even unable to narrate properly.

She kicks her panties off and stands there in nothin' but her bra. She reaches behind her back to unhook it, then slides it down her arms.

"See anything you like?" Buffy asks seductively. She's tryin' to get me to go in the cage with her. But it's not gonna work. Though, it's not 'cause I have much willpower, all of that's gone already. It won't work because my body is incapable of movement right now.

When I don't answer, Buffy lays down on the cot like I'm not even actually here and spreads her legs. She glances back at me and motions with her finger, beckonin' me closer, and I find myself obeyin' before I can even think about stoppin' myself. She smirks at my readiness and places her right hand over her sex. She moans softly as she starts rubbin', and I can't tear my eyes away.

Buffy was never one to beat around the bush... so to speak, but she's sure takin' her time right now, enjoyin' every single torturous moment. I said I've already lost all willpower, but somehow, I lose even more as her moans continue. It's like I can actually feel it myself, the way she's rubbin' herself.

"Hmmmm." Buffy moans again. "You know, if you'd just open the door and walk right in, you could do this yourself."

_That's a good idea._ I think, and reach for my key without another moment's hesitation, actin' purely on instinct, but then I remember that they took my key away. Somethin' about me standin' up for her makes the Council think that I'm gonna try to bust her out or somethin'. Crazy, right?"

"Oh, come on, Faith. Surely you're not going to let something as feeble as a locked door hold you back?" I've been told about how Dracula got B under his thrall, and she was willin' to do anythin' he said for a time. I imagine that this is exactly what that felt like, 'cause right now, Buffy owns me. Damn it all to hell, she owns me.

I can't get to her, though. Somewhere in the darkest pits of my mind, somethin' is fightin' the urge still, and the cage was built to hold rogue Slayers, anyway, so even if I did use every ounce of my strength, I couldn't get to her, and she knows it. She's tauntin' me.

Her moans are gettin' louder, and she slips her middle finger inside herself as her left hand goes to work on her breasts.

"Hah..." I breathe out loud, and her smirk grows wider. Her ring finger soon joins her middle finger in the repetitive thrusting, and her hips jerk to meet every movement.

"Fuck." She gasps, and I know the tauntin' is over for now as she draws closer to her climax.

My own pussy's throbbin' as I watch, unblinkin'. I look around, checkin' for cameras and thank whatever deity is out there that there are none in here. Then again, with an army of hundreds of Slayers just outside the door, anyone stupid enough to try and escape would do it with or without the cameras.

Her moan turns to a shrill scream as her back arches and her body goes stiff. She continues her thrusts as she rides out her orgasm to its limit.

Finally, her body relaxes and she lays back down flat on the cot as she tries to catch her breath. Now that my trance is broken, I find it humorous that a vampire is tryin' to catch her breath when she doesn't even actually need to.

I'm now in control of my body again, so I go back to my spot across from the cell and sit down, watchin' Buffy clean up after herself.

_Heh. Even in death, she's a neat freak._

After she's satisfied with her cleanup, she plops down on the cot again, not botherin' to get dressed.

"I might as well just stay comfortable for now. It's going to be a while before anything happens." She says to herself. She kicks back and relaxes, not coverin' up or anythin', so her entire body is spread out for me to see. So the tauntin' has resumed.

"Yeah." I agree.

"Hey, feel free to get comfortable yourself."

"I'm more comfortable knowin' your _not_ starin' at my naked body."

"Yeah, well, don't think I'm not. Just 'cause you're wearing clothes right now doesn't mean I can't imagine."

I roll my eyes, but she's gettin' to me. No one can get to me the way B can, and she's certainly exploitin' that weakness.

This is gonna be a long week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Risen**

**Chapter 4...**

(Buffy's POV)...

It's been two days since Faith watched me get off, and she hasn't said a word to me since. I don't really care. I'm a vampire. I don't have any emotions. I can't care. Really. I don't. Just because I'm bored, and even getting myself off has lost its appeal. I'm staring at her right now, trying to get some reaction out of her. But she's every bit as stubborn as I am, and it doesn't look like I'm going to be successful. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying.

"How long do you think you'll be able to keep up the silent treatment, Faith?" I ask, and I can even hear my sadistic grin in my voice. I can feel the tips of my fangs on my lip as I speak. That's something I'm not used to yet, and I don't think I ever will be.

Faith still doesn't reply, though she jumps when I speak for the first time in an hour.

"Come on, this is getting unbearable. I never liked silence, Faith, and you didn't either. So why even try? I'm the only thing that even comes close to resembling a living thing you've actually been around in two days. I admire your resolve, Faith, I really do, but it's pointless. I mean, seriously? _Why_ are you so resolute in not talking to me?" I let the question hang in the air for a minute, and just when I'm about to speak again, Faith replies.

"How dare you?" She asks.

"What?"

"Don't play stupid, Buffy. You're blonde, but you're not stupid. How dare you?" She's still not looking at me.

"Umm... Okay? Wanna fill me in on what the hell you're talking about? If this is about me speaking, I'm not going to apologize for breaking this un-fucking-bearable silence."

"Three days ago... I was just tryin' to keep you from... well, since you're already dead, I can't keep you from dyin'. But I was just tryin' to stop the other Slayers and the Council from killin' you. That's all. 'Cause I was in love with B, and I failed her. And if I keep you from gettin' dusted... I don't know, I guess it's like I'm makin' up for lettin' her down. But then... two days ago... You go and pull a stunt like that... just stripped down and got off in front of me... God, I feel like I failed her all over again." I can smell her tears, even through the ten feet of space between her and the cage. "I mean, I could have dealt with that. But... I just stared at you, watchin' the whole thing, and I couldn't look away. No, I didn't _want_ to look away. I wanted to... you know, I wanted to want to look away, but I just didn't wanna look away. It was like you had me under that same thrall thing Dracula got you under that time. _That's_ what I'm pissed about. How _dare_ you put me under your spell? I'm not just some fuckin' _puppet_ you can pull my strings and control me. Stay the fuck outta my head. My head is the only thing I have left. My body... It belongs to the Watchers. They control me already. I'm in deep, Buffy, and I'm afraid I might not be able to get out. My soul... I lost that when I killed Finch... then that guy who studied volcanoes or whatever. I lost my soul then. And my heart... I finally discovered I had one when I fell in love with B. Then she goes and dies on me, and all that's left of her is some empty shell that only cares about not becomin' a pile of dust. Doesn't care about me. Doesn't care about B's friends and family. Doesn't care about what we had, the slayin'. Doesn't care about what we could have had... So if I've got nothin' to say to that shadow... that shell that looks like her... then you're just gonna have to fuckin' deal with it. 'Cause I'm done. I'm not givin' up on gettin' you out of here. I've got this plan that might make both of us happy again. I'll give it a week after we're out of here. If my plan doesn't work, though, I'm done. I'm done. That's it. Finished. I'll walk away and never look back."

Faith falls silent, never having even looked at me the entire time she was talking. It pisses me off. But I don't say anything, and you know why? It's because I actually feel bad about it. Ha! Can you imagine that? Me, a vampire, a demon, feeling _bad_ about what I've done to Faith?!

I growl as I turn and stalk back to my cot and lay down. I stare at the ceiling, and the time inches by slowly in silence. I don't try to provoke her anymore, and she never moves from where she's standing, looking away.

(Faith's POV)...

Yesterday, I spent all day in silence with Buffy. I didn't leave to go eat, I didn't even have to use the bathroom. I just spent the entire day starin' out the window in silence. Since our talk the day before, Buffy didn't bother me yesterday, but I still spent all day in that hall, listenin' to Buffy move around the cage, antsy.

But today, I have a clock in the hall, so I'll know when luchtime was. Go figure, I'm not hungry today. So, just like yesterday, I spend today in silence. Just the extremely annoying _tick... tick... tick_ of the clock. They couldn't have given me a digital clock. It had to be a ticker.

Buffy doesn't bother me today, either, and I'm starting to cool down about the whole "thrall" thing she did to me a few days ago. Maybe even enough to talk to her.

Maybe.

I lose track of time, and soon, I slump to the ground, nearly unconscious. I'm so exhausted. I've spent the past four days just ouside her cell, never getting a wink of sleep, so it's startin' to take its toll.

I pass out so suddenly, I don't have time to call for my relief.

And I dream of Buffy.

Not the demon that's wearin' her skin, the _real_ Buffy.

_We're walkin' together, just like we always do. But somethin's different this time. Normally, I can feel the love comin' from both of us. How much I love her, and how much she's in love with me._

_ But this time, there's a feelin' of uneasiness. Awkwardness. I can feel my heart poundin' just bein' near her. That's nothin' new. But B... she doesn't have a heartbeat. She sounds just like the vampire that's wearin' her skin right now, outside of this dream. But I can see in her eyes that she's the real one. Like I can see her soul. She's an ensouled vamp, but somethin's missin' from her. I can't place it at first, but then it hits me. _

_ She doesn't love me. She doesn't hate me, she's not mad. She just doesn't love me. It's frustratin' her, 'cause she knows she _should_ love me. It's a part of who she is, just like Slayin'. But... she just doesn't. What happened to her love for me? Is she under a spell? Maybe somethin's preventin' her from lovin' people. I need to figure out what it is, but somehow, my dream self knows what it is, and it's hurtin'. It's hurtin' bad. It feels like I made a sacrifice. Or she did. What was sacrificed and why? I don't understand. I feel anger, and grief, and fear, and frustration, all boiling my blood, and it's breakin' what's left of my heart. It hurts, and I want to scream about it. I just wanna tip my head back, throw my arms out, and scream, and cry. That's the worst thing. I actually wanna cry._

_ "I don't understand it, either, Faith. I don't know what happened. I wish it hadn't. I... I was in love with you, and it felt good. But... that feeling, it... it's gone now. I just... I don't get it."_

_ "I do. Devvon told me, while you were takin' that test... He told me that the process wasn't perfect. When a vamp gets their soul back, they have to sacrifice somethin' else. They have to sacrifice the thing they hold the closest to their heart. The thing they hold most dear, he said. Guess for you... that meant your love for me." Tears are in my eyes as I say it. In this moment, I wish that I could sacrifice my love for her. Stop the pain. But it doesn't happen. I just lean into B and cry into her shoulder, and she holds me. She's tryin' to comfort me, but she's so confused about herself right now. It's like her world has fallen away, and she doesn't understand anythin' anymore._

I slowly wake up, but don't open my eyes. My heart feels like it's in a million pieces, but I don't know why. I don't remember fallin' asleep, and I don't remember any dreams or anythin'. But I can tell somethin' big happened. I wouldn't feel so broken otherwise.

"It's about time you woke up." Buffy grumbles.

"Shut up, Buffy." I growl back. I wonder why she didn't try to escape?

"Whatever." She mumbles, but doesn't say another word.

"Bad dream last night?" I ask. That's the only thing that could be puttin' her on edge so early.

"I don't sleep. Vampire." She says, matter-of-factly.

"Right." I agree, and feel stupid for askin'.

"But your dream sure as hell bothered me. Is that what you're planning? Taking me to some demon to get my soul back?"

"What?" I ask.

"You said something about a vampire getting their soul back. Since I'm the only vampire around that you could possibly care enough about totry and get my soul back, that definitely narrows it down. So, I'm gonna ask again. Are you planning to get my soul back?"

"Look, B... Buffy... Look, Buffy, I don't even remember fallin' asleep, let alone whatever the hell kinda crazy dream I had last night." It's not a lie. "I have lots of crazy dreams. Remember when I was in that coma for eight months? Well, that whole time, I dreamed that you and me made a bed together, then you stabbed me and gotmy blood all over the white bedsheets. Okay? I have an extremely active imagination, okay. Probably just workin' through things in my head a bit. If I did dream about you gettin' your soul back, it's probably just 'cause I still can't get over... I still can't get over B. Probably just my way of holdin' on to her."

None of it was a lie. It was all the truth. Just not the whole truth.

Just then, Dawn burst into the room.

"Faith!" She whispers, closin' the door behind her. "We've got a problem!"

"What?"

"The Watchers, they're moving Buffy's execution up! They got everything together faster than I thought!"

"I figured they would. Figured two weeks actually meant closer to one week."

"Try four days!"

"What?!" I'm instantly on my feet, and I hear Buffy growl.

"They knew you'd know that two weeks meant half the time, so they put everything together even faster, to foil any attempts to help her escape! They're going to execute her tonight!"

"Fuck!" I punch the wall beside me, and I feel my hand shatter against the stone. I cry out in pain and recoil, holdin' my hand gently.

"Faith, can you get angry like that again?" Dawn asks.

"What?"

"Look." Dawn points to where I punched the wall and we see that I'd done more damage to the wall than I'd done to my fist. I almost punched right through it, and the wall is two feet thick. "Adrenaline plus Slayer strength equals broken cage." Dawn says, almost excitedly. "Luckily, I move just as fast as the Watchers. I've already talked to Oz, Angel, Xander, Giles and Willow. They're all on board, whenever we're ready. We can leave now, if you want."

"I don't think Faith is going to be much use like that." Buffy points out. "Adrenaline plus Slayer strength may equal broken cage, but Faith plus broken dominant hand equals next to useless."

"Here." Dawn hands me a bottle of painkillers.

"What?" I ask. "What are you doin' with these?"

"I figured you'd react badly when I told you the Watchers are faster than we thought, so I brought those with me, just in case."

"Good thinkin'." I say, almost smilin'. Almost. I down three of the pills and nod to Dawn. "Go get 'em. We're movin' now. Can't afford to wait any longer."

"Okay. You should have Buffy out of the cage by the time we all get back." Dawn says, then runs off.

"So this is actually happening?" Buffy asks, thrilled at the idea of freedom.

"Yeah." I agree, and grab a couple of bars on the cell, wincing as I tighten my grip and start pullin'

I think about how the Watchers are gonna make me kill Buffy if we don't make this work, and the thought of drivin' a stake through her heart gets me so mad, the bars bend like fuckin' twizzlers.

I scream in pain again as I let go and stumble back, my adrenaline wearin' off.

"What's going on?" I hear as another Slayer and two friends come in to check on me, and they gasp and chare when they see Buffy walkin' out of her cage.

When B was still a Slayer, not a Slaypire, I was stronger than her. Physically stronger. But Buffy's _always_ been the fastest Slayer. Even when Red cast the spell that woke up all the other Slayers, none have been even close to as fast as B.

That speed was doubled when she became a Slaypire.

I see the three Slayers topple to the ground before I can blink in surprise. Two of 'em have broken necks, the third one has a gash in her throat where B bit into her.

Three Slayers dead in an instant by one vampire. I'm startin' to think that maybe the Council was right, and she _is_ too dangerous to be kept as she is.

But then, that's why I'm gonna get her soul back.

Dawn rushes in soon with the rest of the gang right behind her, and they gasp at the three dead Slayers on the ground. Everyone but Dawn looks at Buffy in disgust.

"What?" She asks innocently. "I didn't drain them. They won't turn."

"Guys, if we're gonna do this, then we can't afford to let anyone get in the way." I say, and Giles nods.

"Of course." The Watcher agrees. "Faith is right. If we are to have any chance of making it out of this alive, we must, unfortunately, draw blood. The blood of those we've workd side by side with for almost three years now."

Willow, Oz and Xander nod grudgingly. Angel looks like he understands the sacrifice. He didn't even flinch when he saw the bodies.

"Faith, as you are now the highest ranking Slayer, I believe you should take point in this matter." Giles says, and everyone turns to me for orders.

"Fine... Um... Let's get goin'. Follow my lead." I say, and I grab some chains from the wall and chain B's arms and legs together. "B, ya gotta act like my prisoner for now. Just trust me."

"That's right. A vampire trusting a Slayer. What a great idea!" She snarls, but follows me.

"Everyone, surround her. Gotta be her security detail."

"Right." Dawn agrees, and everyone swarms around B.

"What's going on?" A Slayer asks when she sees us approachin'. She and four other Slayers surround us, like they can take us.

"Easy there. Councillor, and Acting High Slayer Faith Lehane." I name myself. I call myself a Councillor, but everyone knows it's the Watchers that hold all the power.

"And your entorage?"

"Uh, right, pardon me, Councillors Rupert Giles of the Watcher Organization, Dawn Summers, Daniel Osbourne, Angelus, and Willow Rosenberg, accompanied by Reverand Alexander Harris.

When the Slayer Organization was set up, Xan got tired of bein' the only one with no special abilities, other than Dawn, so he got himself ordained. Now he blesses little vials of water and crucifixes and stuff so we can use them as weapons. Comes in handy when supplies are low.

"My apologies. I'm new here, I don't know everyone's faces yet." The Slayer in front replied, and stepped aside to let us all by. "Might I ask what you're doing here?"

"Yeah, Council wants us to take former High Slayer Buffy Summers to the occulus for execution as a risen Slaypire." I say, like it's a burden that should have been given to some lower Slayers. Buffy growls for effect.

"Right." The Slayer agrees, now wary of the woman in chains.

"Carry on." I say with authority. The Slayers go back to patrolling the corridors while we manage to escort Buffy almost right up to the front gate unhindered.

"Halt!" I hear several female voices say, and more than twenty Slayers corner us.

"Seriously? 'Halt'? No one says that anymore, nerds." I smirk. "Try something a little more modern, like... oh, I don't know, 'Stop' or 'Freeze'."

"What is your business?" A very agitated Slayer asks.

"Stand down. We're Councillors." I inform them. "Councillors Faith Lehane, Rupert Giles, Dawn Summers, Angelus, Daniel Osbourne and Willow Rosenberg, along with Reverand Alexander Harris."

"So. You're Watchers." One of them growls.

"No. The only Watcher here is Giles, and he supports the Slayers 100%. Really, he's the only one that does. You may not like the Council, but I know you respect the title of High Slayer." I say, and they instantly start to back off. I relax. I'd been tensing up, ready for a fight. For once, I see the point of these useless titles. People tend to not ask questions when they hear High Slayer or Councillor.

"Right. Sorry." the one in charge says, and they all carry on, just like the last group.

We head up to the front gate, and I have Red step outside first. It's daytime, so we need cover if we're gonna get Buffy outta here.

"Oh, look at that. Forecast calls for rain." Red says almost comically, and her eyes glaze over, taking on a cloudy white color. Clouds cover the sun, and block out the rays of light that would cause Buffy to disintegrate. The rain comes fast and hard, and it's beatin' down on us. The thing about the desert is the ground doesn't absorb water very well. In no time, the heavy rain floods the desert, and we're stumblin' about the place. Good news is, it's coverin' our tracks, so it'll be harder to find us right away.

In less than a few hours, we can't see the compound anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Risen**

**Chapter 5...**

Two days we've been running through the desert. Red exhausts herself every day callin' the rain that washes away our tracks and keeps the sun away from Buffy. She sleeps all night and one of us wakes her up before the sun comes up so she can call the clouds again and we're running all day again. Giles swears he knows this desert, and that we're gonna get to a city soon, and Red'll be able to rest up in a real room, and we can keep Buffy inside all day in a building, and we'll travel by night.

But he said that yesterday, too. And there's still no end of the desert in sight. The demon I'm lookin' for, the one that'll be able to give Buffy her soul back again, he's in Phoenix, Arizona. If we were goin' the right way the whole time without bein' turned around, we'd have been in Phoenix already. But we're not.

"Hey, Red, you got enough energy left to call us up some kinda compass?"

"Better. I grabbed some stuff before we left." She reaches into her backpack and brings out a smart phone and a laptop. Giles can manage small magic stuff, so he creates some kinda shield to protect Willow's electronics from the rain.

"I can create a Wi-fi hotspot with my smart phone and connect to the internet with my laptop." She explains, then starts typing something up.

"What are you doin'?" I ask her.

"GPS." She answers. "Okay, we're... here." She mutters under her breath. "And here... is Phoenix." She grins happily.

"What, are we almost there?" I ask.

"Nope." She sing-songs.

"Then what's with the face?"

"He, Giles, told you we're lost!" She says. I think the desert's gettin' to her. She's actually glad we're lost, 'cause it means she one-upped Giles.

"Bloody hell." Giles mutters when he looks at the screen. "We've gone completely around Phoenix."

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me?" I throw my stuff down, ready to strangle someone.

"No, I'm afraid not. When last we took the detour to avoid that vampire encampment, I'm afraidwe didn't correct our course enough. We should have been in Phoenix early this morning. I'm afraid we need to go east by north-east for about ten miles, then due east for another twenty before we get to Phoenix. And by then, I'm afraid the Council will have no doubt discovered where we are headed, and will most likely have a trap set up for us there. It would more than likely be more prudent to skip Phoenix and head to the nearest village or town. From there, I believe I have sufficient funds with me to purchase a vehicle large enough to transport us all to the nearest Soulkeeper demon."

"Soulkeeper?" Buffy asks. She turns and glares at me. "I knew it. You want to get my soul back!"

"No. I want to get _B's_ soul back. You aren't B. You are a monster. You're a demon wearin' her skin. And we're goin' to get the _real_ Buffy back. And I'm warnin' you now, vamp, if this doesn't work, or if you give us any trouble between now and the time we get B's soul back, I'll personally drive a stake through your cold, lifeless, blackened, disgustin' heart!" I must look insane right now, and probably because I am. I've been losing a little bit more of my sanity every day since B died. It's only a matter of time before I actually end up in the loony bin. Of course, there's a bright side. I'll probably die before then, so guess there's no tapioca puddin' in my future.

B looks at me, murder in her eyes. She looks like she actually feels betrayed, like we're the best of friends, and I'm joinin' the Mayor all over again.

"Faith?" I look at Dawn, and she recoils. I look around at everyone, and every last person around me but Angel flinches. I walk over to a puddle in the ground and knel down by it. I'm actually terrified myself of what I see.

My face is filthy, not an inch of flesh is clean, though the rest of the group is the same. My hair is matted, and looks like a colony of rats is livin' in it. It's caked with mud and somewhat dried blood from a recent vamp attack. I have a couple fresh scars on my face from the same vamp attack, and a thin white line just outside my left eye from where a coyote jumped me when I wasn't prepared.

But the part that's scarin' me is my eyes. They're deranged. Mutated by nearly a straight week with no sleep, other than that time I fell asleep outside Buffy's cage back at the compound. Twisted by not being able to grieve over Buffy, since I have to see her face every day.

I may not be completely insane, but I definitely look the part, and my reflection makes me hurl. I feel everything catchin' up to me at once. The girl I love died. She came back as the very thing we're sworn to kill. She killed other girls who have our callin' without hesitatin'. Four other Slayers, and I feel like the blood is as much on my hands as hers. Nearly a week with only a couple hours of sleep. Betrayin' my callin' by rescuin' a vampire, twice, and forsakin' all the other Slayers.

I'm losin' my entire stomach , haunted by the sight of my reflection.

Seems I'm hunched over, clutchin' my stomach for damn near ten minutes before I'm finally finished, and I'm able to move even the slightest bit. Instead of gettin' up, I roll over to my side, shiverin' and sobbin'. I don't care that everyone's watchin', starin' at me in disbelief. I don't care that I have the lives, and undeaths, of six other people in my hands, and that I need to be strong. Right now, I just wanna be a little girl again, curlin' up in Buffy's mom's arms while she's rockin' back and forth to comfort me.

I feel a hand on my back, pattin' me, like someone tryin' to burp a baby, lettin' me know it's alright.

It's Angel. The only person I know who could possibly understand what I'm feelin'. Me and him have a special bond that others could never understand. We're pretty much the same, just he's a male vampire, and I'm a Slayer. But both of us know what it's like to embrace the darkness for a time, only to come back to the light and feel the need to make up for what we did while in the light. On top of that, both of us know what it's like to be in love with B, but to be separated by some kind of veil from her.

I sit up and lean into him, burin' my face in his long black overcoat, my tears addin' to the wetness on his chest due to the rain. He holds me tight, and I realise I'm findin' myself in this position more and more lately. Leanin' on someone else to hold me while I cry. I feel so... weak. So powerless. So vulnerable.

I've always been seen as the strong one, able to live with my mistakes as long as I'm tryin' to make up for them. Always takin' what life throws at me and throwin' it right back in its face. Makin' my own destiny instead of takin' the one the Powers That Be have given me and followin' it to the letter.

But now it's clear to everyone that I was only ever strong because of Buffy. The real Buffy. Without her... I'm nothin'. Nothin' but some weak little girl not capable of even takin' care of myself, let alone the people I call my family.

"Look." Giles says, and points to a large hole in the sand. "It appears to be some kind of den for a larger animal. Perhaps a pack of desert coyotes. I can check to see if it's inhabited. If not, we can stay in there for the night."

I separate from Angel, noddin' my thanks to him, and he flashes me a reassurin' smile that's comfortin' despite the fact that he's not sure about what we're doin' either.

I nod in agreement to Giles, and he rushes over to the cave. He looks inside, then glances back to me and waves. It's clear.

It's tight and cramped in the den, and only a few of us can fit, so Red, Buffy and Dawn decide to sleep there for the rest of the day. The men and I stay outside to keep watch. Angel's wearin' his amulet thing that lets him stay out in the sun without burnin' up.

"Hey, G, maybe we should go look around and see if there's any towns or somethin' nearby where we can get a real room for the night, and maybe get a ride out of this desert." I suggest. I actually feel a little better since my cry.

"Yes, perhaps you're right. Though, two of us should stay here in case something happens." I catch Giles' meanin'. He's afraid that Buffy'll wake up first and gorge herself on a certain couple of women in that dark cave while they're asleep. He wants me and Angel to stay here so we can kill her if we need to.

"Yeah. Probably right. So me and Angel will stay, you and Xan should go off lookin' around. We'll keep watch here until you come back."

Giles nods and he and Xan run off into the desert. Somehow, I get the feelin' somethin' big's about to happen.

They're gone for an hour before I decide to try and have a conversation with Angel.

"So... Just curious... You still in love with B?"

He chuckles. "I thought we'd have this talk eventually. Yes, I still love Buffy. But you don't have to worry about me. I'd only end up hurting her if I tried to pursue her. I knew that a long time ago. Don't forget that I was the one who left her."

"Yeah. I remember. Still... people... vampires... they change their mind."

"That's true. But mine hasn't changed. Besides, Buffy... well... she's beyond my reach now, anyway."

"But the whole point of this little mission is to get her back."

"I know. But it might not work. Either way, that's not what I'm talking about. Her heart is as much yours as it ever was mine. She loves you now. Not me. I'm not so blinded by love for her that I can't see the obvious. But apparently you are."

"What?"

"She's loved you all along, and you never even noticed."

"No. I noticed. I was... afraid. Afraid that if I tried to make a move, and we decided to make a go of it... somethin' would happen, and it either wouldn't work out, and we'd lose even the shaky friendship we'd worked so hard to build, or one of us would die. Go figure, the day I finally realise we're gonna both be around a while, and decide to risk it, she goes and gives up. She goes and dies." Here come the tears again. But this time, I fight them back down. I refuse to feel weak again. If I'm gonna have any chance at makin' this work, I need to be strong.

Angel laughs again.

"I should have been more clear. I don't mean you're blinded by love. You... You are blinded, but not by love. You're blinded by hate. Your hate of the undead. Especially vampires. You don't think vampires can love, but they can. Look at me."

"Yeah, but you've got a soul."

"Fair enough. But take Spike. He fell in love with Buffy long before he got his soul back. And don't tell me he didn't, because he did. He nearly got himself killed by a hell god because he refused to tell Glorificus that Dawn was the key. Don't tell me being willing to sacrifice yourself to protect someone else isn't love. Even you know that."

"He had that chip."

"Okay, but he didn't have a chip when he was with Drusilla. He loved her. He really loved her. Besides, that chip only stopped him from hurting humans. It didn't affect his emotions. It only kept him from hurting Buffy long enough to have time to fall in love with her. Faith, vampires can love just as much as humans. They often have the same feelings for certain people that they did in life. Just take Spike and his mother. In life, he was a momma's boy. He loved his mother more than life itself. When Drusilla turned him, he went back and turned his mother so they could spend eternity together. He tried to save her by turning her. He loved her in life, and he loved her in death."

I feel like there's some kind of hidden message in what Angel's tellin' me, but I don't get the chance to ask before Xander runs up.

"Faith!" He's wheezing. He looks terrified.

"What is it, Xan?"

"They... They have... Giles!" He coughs. "Watchers! We... found... town... twenty minutes... north... Watchers... waiting... trap!"

"You found a town, but somehow, they knew we were headin' there, and they captured Giles?"

"Yeah!"

"Fuck!" I kick a stone on the ground and watch it fly through the air and sink into the ground a hundred feet away.

"Damn it." Angel curses. "It was Willow."

"What? Willow lead them there?"

"Not on purpose. They must have been tracking Willow's magical storm. Following it. They had to have figured it out."

"But how?"

"Probably because Phoenix was the obvious place we would go. It was the closest city to the compound, and there's a Soulkeeper there. They saw a storm heading from the compound to Phoenix, so they put two and two together."

"Damn it. So we can't use that storm thing again."

"We have to go get Giles back!" Xander says, havin' finally caught his breath.

"Yeah." I agree.

But we don't get the chance to go after him. The Watchers followed Xander.

We saw their vehicles pull up and surround us, keepin' at least a football field's length between them and us.

"High Slayer Faith Lehane!" One of them calls through a megaphone. "Step forward! We have you surrounded!"

_No shit, Sherlock._

"We want to talk peacefully with you. I'm sure we can reach some kind of negotiation."

I look to Angel.

"I think we'd better do what they say. I can feel about a hundred or more Slayers with them, plus more than twenty Watchers with assault rifles."

"Damn." I curse under my breath, but put my hands up and walk to the guy with the megaphone.

"Fine. You got me." He leads me past the line of trucks to a Watcher standin' next to a buggy of some kind. It was the lady Watcher from the meetin'.

"High Slayer Lehane." She says grudgingly.

"Councillor... Vera, was it?"

"It is. Vera Bixley."

I snort. "I'm sorry, 'Bixley'? Someone must've hated your family."

"Shall we drop the antics and get to the point?"

"Fine. What's up?"

"You have something we want, and we can give you several things you want."

"Okay, you said let's cut to the chase. I'm not givin' Buffy up. I believe I can get her soul back, and everything'll be back to normal."

"No, I'm afraid it won't. You see, Ms. Summers herself has killed four different Slayers, one of which was a very prominent Slayer. And even if you do get her soul back, she'll have to live with the fact that she killed those four Slayers, _and_ she'll still have the strength and speed of a Slaypire. Should she decide to leave the organization-"

"You mean if she decides to have a mind of her own again and refuse to be your plaything."

"Call it what you will." Her eyes confirm it. "In any case, she could still prove to be too dangerous. I admit I supported your plan to reensoul Ms. Summers to begin with, but that was before she killed three Slayers without hesitation. One of whom just happened to have been my daughter. Sarah Bixley."

"Oh, so that's what this is. Revenge. She kills 'mummy's little girl', so 'mummy' has to kill her back."

"Again. Call it what you will. But let's just say I've had a change of heart. I agree with the Council. Buffy Anne Summers, former High Slayer, will be executed. Now, you have a choice. You and your friends, including Mr. Giles, can die with her, or come back to the Organization with clean records. Your little bout of treason will not be held against you. On top of that, we have a few... tokens, shall we call them, that I think Ms. Rosenberg and Mr. Harris will personally wish to see."

"What?"

"Well... they're actually persons. By the names of Tara Maclay and Anya Jenkins."

_Oh shit. How'd they manage to pull that one off?_

"How?"

"Well, it appears that Ms. Jenkins' sacrifice in the battle against the First counts as unnatural, so her resurrection was actually as easy to accomplish as Ms. Summers' was after her death after defeating Glorificus. Ms. Maclay's ressurrection, however, was significantly more difficult. But, in the end, the Powers That Be recognize the necessity, and she, too, was allowed to come back. However, their return to life is conditional. If Ms. Rosenberg and Mr. Harris don't come back with us, Tara and Anyanka will return to their graves. Take this message back to your friends. If they wish, they can even see Anya and Tara themselves before making a decision." Vera smiles confidently.

"Tara?!" Willow gasps when I tell her. That was basically Xander's response, too, before he ran off to go see her. Buffy's sittin' against the wall, frownin'. She knows as well as I do that with Anya and Tara in the picture, Willow and Xander are puppets with the Watchers pullin' the strings. They're gone.

"Yeah. So they say. I'm not entirely convinced, though. How the hell did they get them back? I mean, even if they did what you did to get B back after that hell god thing, wasn't there supposed to be some kind of consequence?"

"Yeah. When we brought Buffy back, a demon came with her. But the Watchers knew that, so they probably had an army of Slayers standby and kill the demons after they got Tara and Anya back. It makes sense. The Watchers may be assholes, and we may not like what they do, and how they see us, but if anyone could do it, they could. I don't doubt that it's actually them." Willow's cryin', strugglin' inside. She's starin' at Buffy, knowin' if she stays, Tara dies again. But if she goes, she'll be abandonin' Buffy.

"Look, Red... I'm gonna need help to get Buffy back."

"I know."

"Let me finish. I'm gonna need help. But... I know how much Tara means to you. Buffy told me all about her. And it seems like she means as much to you as B means to me. I can't ask you to give her up so I can have B back. You should go back. Get Tara back. You deserve her, and she needs you. Go back for her. Angel, Oz, Dawn and I can get Buffy back. We'll have to make do without you. It's not an option, Red. I'm not givin' you a choice. Go back to her."

Willow takes one more look at Buffy with tears in her eyes, but nods at me. Without another moment's hesitation, she runs out of the cave and disappears amongst the Watchers. After about ten minutes, she and Xander are back with tears of joy in their eyes.

"It's them." Willow confirms. "They told us to come get you."

"Red, we're not comin'. We're not goin' back to those fuckin' Watchers. And the openin' to this cave is too small for more than two Slayers to get in at a time, and there's no way the Watchers can shoot us through the sand. If they come after us, there'll be too much bloodshed. Even they aren't willin' to risk the lives of all of their Slayers just to kill one rogue Slayer and a Slaypire. You just go tell them that." Red and Xan nod.

"We already told them that. We just came to say goodbye."

"See ya."

"Bring Buffy back." Willow says forcefully.

"I will. But you know the Council won't let her come back, whether she's got her soul or not."

"We know. That's why we're here to say goodbye." Xander says. They walk into the cave and hug me. It feels good, to be loved like this.

When the hug finally ends, they walk over to Buffy.

"Hey, Buff." Xander says. "I know you're not in there right now, but when you're back, you're gonna remember this. I think so, anyway. Um... so... Goodbye, Buff. I love you." He pulls the vampire into a tight embrace, afraid to let go, knowin' he'll probably never see her again.

"Goodbye, Buffy." Willow cries, huggin' Buffy. Buffy just rolls her eyes, not returnin' the hug.

And then, as fast as they disappeared the first time, they were gone again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Risen**

**Chapter 6...**

I guess the Watchers decided it wasn't worth losin' who knows how many Slayers in this small cave just to take down one Slaypire and a rogue Slayer, 'cause not even ten minutes after Red and Xan went back, they were all gone, leavin' Angel, Oz, Dawn, Buffy and me in the cave. But this caused a problem.

"We can't travel by day anymore." I realise.

"What?" Oz asks.

"We don't have Red anymore. No superwitch means no rain cloud. No rain cloud means no protection from sunlight for Buffy. And last I checked, Angel only has one sunscreen amulet. So we can't go by day anymore. Once we leave the cave, the Watchers are gonna come down on us. We need a way out that doesn't involve dyin'."

"Fuck." Buffy groans, leanin' her head back against the wall.

"Here." I look to Angel, and see him holdin' his ring out for Buffy.

"What?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Take it. You need it more than I do right now."

"Angel, what are you doin'?" I ask.

"Buffy is the priority right now. If she's not protected from sunlight, we can't go by day, and that's going to slow us down. So, the logical thing to do would be to give her the ring. The Gem of Amara can protect a vampire from dying. It'll keep the sun from burning her up. You can travel straight through the daytime now. Get to the nearest Soulkeeper. Get Buffy back. Then stay away from the Watchers. Even with her soul, they'll kill her. I'll find a way to survive without it. I can pretend Buffy overpowered me for the amulet. I'll leave a pile of dust on the ground, make the Watchers think I'm dead. Make them think Buffy took my ring and killed me for it, then you all left. When they're gone, I'll sneak out in the night."

"Angel, you can't do that." I say.

"Sure I can. It's my amulet. I'm giving it back to Buffy. Like I said, she's more important."

"You heard the man." Buffy jumps down and grabs the ring. She slides it on her finger and whips out her stake. For some reason, she kept her stake when she turned. She plunges the stake ino her own heart and gasps. "Shit!" She screams, but doesn't disintegrate.

"Hurt?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yes!" She screams again as she pulls the stake out. "But at least I'm not dead. God, I remember the pain I was in the last time I got staked." Buffy chuckles "Somehow, this time hurt worse."

"Wait a minute... What do you mean the last time? You've been staked before?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, you weren't there. Yeah, I got clumsy one night and a vamp got a hold of my stake. Stabbed me in the gut with it. I almost died. I think it was a Tuesday." She shrugs it off like it was nothin'. I wish I'd known.

"Well... That's just great. My fuckin' girlfriend gets staked, and no one tells me." I growl.

"Um... Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not my girlfriend. Never have been, and probably never will be." Buffy says with a smirk.

"Fuck. You know what I mean."

"No. Would that be 'the love of my life' or 'the girl of my dreams'?" Buffy taunts.

"That's just great." I reply. "Make fun of me all you want, B. I don't give a crap."

"You know... considering the fact that I'm not actually 'Buffy' in your eyes, you don't seem to have any problems using your nickname for her on me." Buffy points out.

I mentally slap myself. It's just... lately, she's been seemin' more and more like Buffy. The real Buffy. She's not actin' like a regular old vamp. Sure, she still sneaks in a few comments now and then about wantin' someone to eat, but the way she teases... It's like that dance we danced around each other for all those years. Just barely avoidin' acknowledgin' what was happenin' between us. The love we felt for each other. The passion. The passion we'd mistaken for hate, but was really the exact opposite.

And it's makin' it very hard to keep seein' her as a vampire and not Buffy.

"Yeah, well, it's your fuckin' mask. It's just 'cause you look like her." I try to rationalize it.

"You sure it's not because of what happened between us about a week ago?" She asks, and I freeze. Everyone's lookin' at me like I'm crazy.

"Nothin' happened." I explain. "I had to keep an eye on her, and she just decided to get herself off on the audience."

"You watched her?" Dawn sounds disgusted. Then again, this _is_ her older sister we're talkin' about. Or... was. This _was_ her sister.

"Not by choice!" I protest. "It was my job to make sure she didn't try to escape, and that meant not even blinkin' around her!"

"Okay, that's true. She didn't _choose_ to watch me. She just couldn't control herself. Her body acted before she could think." Buffy's smirkin' now. Big time.

And again, everyone's lookin' at me. Angel's gaze is sympathetic, like he definitely understands how I felt. That pisses me off. Dawn is still lookin' at me like some vile creature from the Black fuckin' Lagoon. And Oz is just lookin' at me, his expression unreadable.

And Buffy... well... you can imagine how she's lookin' at me. Contempt. Pure contempt. She's enjoyin' puttin' me in the spotlight and watchin' me squirm. Seems she and I have switched places. Usually, I'm the one gettin' off on makin' her uncomfortable.

"Would you just shut up?" I growl. "Come on, we don't have time for this shit! So what if I watched her fuck herself? Not like I actually fucked her." I turn away and start for the mough of the cave.

"Faith, wait." Angel says. "We should wait until tomorrow morning. They'll be expecting us to leave tonight, but they'll be watching us until then just to be sure. If you leave tomorrow morning, they'll all be tired from watching us that they won't be able to keep up, plus you'll be able to surprize them by leaving in broad daylight."

I sigh. "Fine." I turn back around and walk back into the cave. Looks like it's gonna be another long night of fun.

...

"God, I'm bored!" Buffy complains for the thousandth time.

"What do you want me to do about it?" I ask for the thousandth time. I already know what her answer is.

"You could take me to the deepest part of this cave and make me scream in pleasure." She replies. Even the thousandth time she says this has me gettin' hot and bothered.

But still, for the thousandth time, I reply, "Not gonna happen."

This time, though, she carries it further.

"Fine. Then let's all play a game." Buffy hops down from the rock she's sittin' on and grabs me by the wrist, draggin' me to the center of the cave.

"Game?" Dawn asks. "What game?" Apparently, we're all so bored we're willin' to play a game with a vampire.

"Truth or Dare." Buffy suggests.

"No thanks." Angel says from where he stands by the mouth of the den.

"Sure, why not?" Oz says, then sits down across from Dawn. Buffy has me sit down, then she sits down across from me.

"I'll go first." Buffy says.

"No way. You start, and all hell's gonna break loose." I say. "Dawn, you start." I figure Dawn's the most innocent out of all of us. She might keep it tame for a little bit, anyway.

Buffy pouts, but doesn't say anythin'. God, that pout makes me wanna kiss her.

"Okay." Dawn's oblivious. "Um... Faith. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." I say. Really not ready to go into darin' yet. Not with B... the vampire right across from me.

"Have you and Buffy ever had sex?" Dawn's eyes narrowed.

_Should I tell her? She asked the question. Supposed to tell the truth. Then again, if I lie, Buffy'll tell her the truth, anyway._

"No. We've never been together. Though I wish we had. Before this all happened, I mean."

Dawn looked to Buffy in confirmation, and I notice she's lookin' at the ground. Buffy, I mean, not Dawn. Buffy nods slightly, confirmin' what I said.

"Oz. Truth or Dare?" I ask.

"Truth." Apparently, he's thinkin' the same thing I am.

"You still have it for Red?"

He chuckles. "No. I'm over her. She's not for me anymore, I get that. She's into girls now." He doesn't really seem sad about it. He actually sounds happy for her, considerin' she just got her girlfriend back. The one she never got over.

"Anyway, Dawn, Truth or Dare?" He asks.

"Screw that, I'm going for it. Dare. What you got, Moony?" Dawn jokes, and Oz seems to share some joke with her. I just raise my eyebrow.

"'Moony'?" I ask.

"From Harry Potter." Dawn says, like that explains everything.

"Oh. Right. Silly me." I say sarcastically.

"There was a werewolf character in Harry Potter. Professor Remus Lupin. He was a member of this little gang of pranksters called the Marauders when he was still in school. His nickname then was Moony." Oz explains.

"Oh." _Nerds._

"Okay, Oz. Lay it on me." Dawn smirks.

"Okay. I dare you to..." He whispers the rest of the dare in her ear. Even my Slayer hearin' doesn't pick it up, though apparently, B's hearin' has improved enough to hear it, 'cause she looks very amused.

Dawn giggles a bit as she stands up and sneaks up behind Angel. She taps him on the shoulder to get his attention, then surprises him by kissin' him. On the lips.

"What's going on?" Angel asks when she finally pulls away. She shrugs, then swings her hips as she walks back to the group. I think that part was her idea.

"Buffy, Truth or Dare?" Dawn asks.

"Dare." Buffy grins, flashin' her fangs. Remindin' everyone that she's not really Buffy.

"I dare you to kiss Faith." Dawn says evilly, like she didn't even notice.

"Your wish, my command." Buffy keeps grinnin as she crawls over to me, slowly, seductively. She straddles my waist, wrappin her legs around me and squeezin', pressin' into me. My core heats up very quicly as she slowly leans down.

I'm breathin' heavy, and my palms are sweaty. Finally, I feel her lips. But not where I expected them. Not where I wanted them. She turned at the last second and kissed me on the cheek.

"Wha-?" I protest before I can stop myself, and I feel my body whine as Buffy's weight is gone, and she returns to her spot.

I get the point. If I want it, I have to go for it myself. I'm gonna send her a message right back.

And I get my chance now.

"Oh, Faithy... Truth or Dare?" Buffy sing-songs.

"Truth." I reply without hesitatin'. She's surprised. She knew I'd be hopin' she'd dare me to kiss her.

"How badly do you want to kiss me right now?" Buffy fights back.

"Hmm... I'll live without you tuckin' me in." It's not a lie, so I'm not breakin' the rules. I'll live. I just probably won't enjoy it nearly as much.

"Okay." Buffy growls. She's not happy that I turned the tables like that. "Your turn."

"Truth or Dare?" I ask. I don't name a name, but everyone knows it's for B.

"Dare."

"Alright. I dare you to..." I pause for effect, like I'm actually thinkin' about it. I love how she's just sittin' there, waitin' in suspense. No way in hell I'm gonna let her win this tauntin' game. "Say exactly what you're thinkin' right now." I finally finish.

"Fuck you." Buffy growls again. I hear Dawn and Oz laugh. I just smirk. I can tell I'm gettin' her every bit as turned on as I am with my teasin'. Right now, it's like Isaid earlier. It's like we're all just hangin' out with the real Buffy. We're all friends, hangin' out like any other day. Buffy's not dead. We're still tip-toein' around what we're both feelin', what we both know we're feelin'. I can even imagine Red's up in her room havin' some fun with Kennedy. Xander is out blessin' water or somethin' to use as Holy water. But this feels normal. No one's thinkin' about Buffy's new strength or speed or fangs, or thirst for human blood. No one's thinkin' that we've made enemies of the entire Slayer Organization. No one's thinkin' about the army of Watchers and Slayers watchin' the cave for us to leave.

We're all just out campin' and havin' a good time.

"Truth or Dare?" Buffy asks me. It's obvious this game is now just between me and B, but Dawn and Oz don't seem to have a problem with that. They're just watchin' us, probably placin' bets on who breaks first.

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss me." Buffy says triumphantly.

I smile as I copy her earlier movements. I crawl slowly over to her, swayin' my hips. Hell, I'm turnin' myself on right now. I straddle her waist the way she did mine, and I lean down until my mouth is only an inch away from hers. She's expectin' me to go for her cheek, like she did me, but right here is where I stop copyin' her.

"Once you're actually here, I will." I whisper. Then I stand up and walk away. Away from the group. Away from the gang. I've got to release some tension. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Not kiss her. The only reason I was able to stop myself was remindin' myself that I wouldn't actually be kissin' her. I'd be kissin' a monster.


	7. Chapter 7

**Risen**

**Chapter 7...**

Buffy obviously knew I was plannin' on doin' _somethin' _to relieve the tension inside me, but I guess she was expectin' somethin' else. She figured she'd just walk in on me with my pants off, hand workin' between my legs, and I'd be too busy moanin' to tell her to go away. What she didn't expect was me takin' a completely different approach.

You see, I studied mixed martial arts for a while after Sunny-D got blown up. It was basically glorified self-defense, but I was cool with that. I just needed somethin' physical to do, seein' as evil took a bit of a break after the First lost. No one wanted to take on the army of Slayers that beat the thing that can't be killed. So, I had to turn to highly physical jobs, like takin' over Xander's construction gig since he's not really fit for it anymore, what with the eye patch and whatnot. Anyway, while I was studyin' under my sensei, Master Baer, he taught me and a few other students about this form of meditation called a kata. It's basically just muscle memory. It gets the juices flowin' and improves your focus. So, most of the time, when I have a lot of tension I need to relieve, I just do one of them.

I know 25 different katas, but right now, I'm stickin' with one of the basic ones. Master Baer called this one San Dan.

I raise my left fist up beside the right side of my head, and my right fist down in front of my stomach, then step off with my left foot, turnin' to the left. I bring my left fist down in an arc in a downward block while my right fist comes back to rest on my right hip. I exhale smoothly as I do so.

I step forward with my right foot and thrust my right fist forward with a sharp exhale, and bring my left fist up and back to rest on my left hip. My right fist come up to my left cheek while my left fist goes down in front of my stomach, and I turn on my right foot to face behind me. I down block with my right hand this time, then step off with my left foot and punch with my left fist.

I fold my left fist up again, my right fist returnin' to my stomach and I turn ninety degrees towards the direction I started out facin'. I down block with my left fist, then step with my right foot and punch with my right fist. I step again and punch again with my left foot and fist, then once more with my right foot and fist, exhaling smoothly each time, ending with a shout on the third punch.

I get into the next position, which is basically just startin' all over again, but facin' the opposite way.

I ignore Buffy standin' there, watchin' me, but her presence is already causin' me to tense up again, undoin' the effects of the meditation. I give up halfway through, knowin' it won't help with her standin' there, makin' me all self-conscious.

"What do ya want, B?" I ask frustrated.

"I gotta admit, F, when you left the circle, I assumed you were just as worked up as I was. So I thought you were coming back here to scratch an itch or something. Thought maybe I could help with it. Now that there's no bars between us. But I expected something a little less... PG-13, and more Rated-R."

"Well, hell. You can help, I guess."

"What?"

"Yeah. Come on. If you want me, come and get me." I smirk. She can't decide if it's a trick or not. Finally, she makes up her mind. She steps forward, arms outstretched, like she's tryin' to actually give me a hug.

My fist connects with her face before she ever sees it comin'.

"What the hell was that for?" Buffy growls.

"What? I said you could help scratch my itch. I need to get physical right now. And for me, physical means beatin' shit up."

"Bullshit. It means sex. It's always meant sex with you!"

"Well, that may be true, but I changed. I changed when I fell in love with B. Sex wasn't as important to me anymore. 'Cause I didn't just want sex with her, I wanted her. Since then, I've been celibate."

"What?"

"Yeah. Surprise." I smirk. She definitely wasn't expectin' that. "I don't have sex anymore. Haven't since the day I got outta prison. Knew that everyone I'd ever sleep with from then on, I'd be imaginin' Buffy. Her touch, her smell, her body, her voice. And it would hurt me every time I finally realized that she wasn't Buffy after all, just another girl I'd fuck. So, I do other things to relieve my stress. Remember when I was doin' construction for a while after the First? Well, I did that to work up a sweat, to tire myself out. So that's how I did it at first, after we beat the First."

"When... When did you realize you were in love with me?"

I laugh. "With you? Never. But I realized I was in love with Buffy the day I decided to go to prison. She was just standin' there, all angry and pissed, and hatin' me, and I felt sick, knowin' that I deserved it. I tried to apologize, but she wouldn't let me."

"I remember." She whispers.

"Yeah. It hurt. Big time. So I let her beat the shit outta me for a while, hopin' it would let her let go of some of her anger, and I'd be able to apologize. But then I realized she was holdin' too much. I doubted she'd ever forgive me, or even calm down enough to look at me with anything but disgust and hate. So, I figured the only way to ease her, would be to go to prison. I didn't do it to redeem my soul or anythin'. I did it to redeem myself in her eyes, or at least let her not have to worry about me goin' after her again. I fucked a couple blondes in prison, tryin' to imagine it bein' B, but then I realized that was only makin' everythin' worse. So... I took a vow of celibacy. Said I'd never have sex again, unless it was with her. I added that loophole in just in case, but I never really believed it would ever happen. So, I was prepared to never have sex again."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. So, if you wanna help me out, just fight me, okay? I need to work up a sweat right now."

Buffy sighs. "Fine. But I'm not going to hold back."

"Good. I don't want you to."

Buffy's suddenly right in front of me, her face still in the process of twistin' into the mask of a vampire. No, this is her face. B's face is the mask now.

Her fist is about to smash my face in, and I actually regret tellin' her not to take it easy on me. She's so fuckin' fast.

Even my Slayer instincts aren't enough to save me. Her fist connects with my face, and her other fist plows into my stomach before my body even recoils an inch from the first hit. I fly backwards and smash into the cave wall, sinkin' almost an inch into the stone from the force of her hit. I can't breathe. I hurt all over. I feel like I'm just some newbie Slayer takin' on the First all by myself. How the hell can the difference in our strength be that big?

Then, in the blink of an eye, she's beside me again, and her right roundhouse kick smashes the stone on either side of me and buries me another two inches at least into the wall of the cave. Luckily, the stone is actually just hardened sand and not actual stone, otherwise, I'd be damn near dead right now.

Buffy senses this, and decides I'm worth more to her alive, 'cause she helps me out of the wall and helps me stand up.

"Told you I wouldn't hold back." Buffy growls, like she's angry. But angry about what? I don't get it.

I cough, and my eyes grow wide as I see the blood I just coughed up.

"Fuck. Looks like I broke you." Buffy doesn't actually sound upset about it, more like it's an inconvenience. But no... That's what I was expectin' to hear. But since I talked to Angel earlier, I'm tryin' to look for some kind of sign that Buffy might still be in there. I still don't think she's fully there, but there's definitely still some Buffy-like qualities.

Point is, there was _some_ emotion similar to guilt or somethin'. Whether she's feelin' guilty for hurtin' me, or for nearly killin' her bodyguard, I don't know, but she definitely was cool as a cucumber about it.

Cool as a cucumber? There's somethin' else that B's gotten me into. Those stupidly childish things she always said, that I always found annoyin', they've grown on me now, and I actually find it kinda cute now. And what's more, now I've even started to use them, and not just in my head, in actual conversation with actual people.

But that's another thing that B and this vampire does NOT have in common. The vamp's lack of childish humor is just another reminder that she's not Buffy. Instead, she has my usual taste in dark, and mostly sexual humor. Used to be, I would've loved for B to share my sense of humor, but now, I just want her to say somethin' silly. Somethin' annoyin'. Somethin'... Buffy.

The thought of hearin' somethin' like that comin' from her mouth again fills me with longin', and the realization that, even if we _do_ get her soulback, she might never get that back sends me fallin' to the ground, clutchin' my stomach. A sob escapes before I can stop it.

"Oh come on, F. I know I hit you hard, but you _never _cry." Buffy rolls her eyes. I can sense it.

_More and more_. I think to myself. _I cry more and more each day._

"Just go." I whisper.

"What?"

"Just go."

"But... Come on, you said you didn't want me to hold back, so I didn't. If this is just 'cause you lost-"

"Just go!" I scream. I don't know why I'm mad at her. She's right. I _did_ say don't hold back. I knew she was stronger and way faster than me, because she has the combined strength of a Slayer and a vampire. I knew I'd get my ass kicked, get the shit beat outta me. And yet, I said don't hold back. So she didn't. So why am I mad at her?

Because she's not Buffy. She's darin' to use her face, her body, her name, her voice, even her fuckin' smell, and she's usin' it all against me. Tryin' to get me to make that one mistake that would end up with her absolutely dominatin' me. If I let any single thing she does get to me, I'd end up lettin' her control me, lettin' her dominate me, lettin' her fuck me 'til _she_ dies.

But that's not what scares me. What scares me is that I might _like_ it. What scares me is I might let her do it _again_. And again. And again. I'm afraid I'll let her do me the way she let Spike do her.

And by doin' that, I'll betray Buffy.

"Faith?" Buffy asks.

"Please... Just... Just go. I've got this. I can take care of myself." I say softly, tryin' to calm down.

Finally, I fall to the ground as Buffy drops me and storms off.

When I'm finally alone, I let myself cry. I let it all out silently. The thing about caves, things tend to echo. So if I'm not quiet, everyone'll know what's goin' on.

I feel so much right now, and I know I've said it before, but I really hate feelin' this fuckin' vulnerable.

(Buffy's POV)...

Dawn sees me storm past, and she hurries after me.

"Buffy? What's going on?"

"Just leave me alone, pipsqueak." I growl. I've only been a vampire for about a month, and I'm already sick of humans. They're all so emotional. They attach themselves in some way to every little fucking thing. For me, there's only two things that matter: surviving, and having as much fun as I possibly can while doing it. At least, that's the way it is now. Back when I was human, I was so fucking uptight, thinking I was better than everyone else. I should've taken a leaf out of Faith's book and gotten laid more. Maybe then I wouldn't have always been so tense all the time. Lose the whole "good girl" thing and just have a good time.

I'm not mad because Faith sent me away. I'm not. I'm mad because no matter how hard I try, she's just _not_ giving it up! It's so frustrating! My options for getting laid right now are severely limited. My options include Angel, that werewolf kid, Dawn and Faith. Dawn's my sister, or at least she was "Buffy's" sister. That's just disgusting. Oz is... well, hell, who knows, maybe I have an undiscovered fetish for bestiality, I don't know. But,to me, at least, he's very unappealing to even look at, let alone to fuck.

And Angel? Please. Been there, fucked that. That chapter is closed.

And that leaves Faith. The one with the heavy-duty padlock over her pussy sayin' "hell no!" to me every time I try to get in her pants. God, I suddenly miss the days when Faith was willing to fuck anyone she thought could even remotely satisfy her.

"Buffy, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is you won't fucking leave me alone. God, can't a vamp get some privacy around here?"

"What happened with Faith?" Fuck! This little human just won't give it a rest!

"She won't budge." I admit. "Oh well. Next town we get to, I'll find someone willing to give me a ride or something."

"Where?" Dawn asks softly.

"I don't know. First spot we find, I guess. I don't really care if it's a hotel room or even up against a dumpster. Just need _someone_ willing to show me a good time."

"Oh. You meant that kind of ride. I thought..."

"You thought I was gonna leave."

Dawn nods.

"Well, unfortunately, looks like I'm still stuck with you guys. The Watchers get their hands on me, and I'm dead. Least this way, I've got some bodies to throw at them so I can escape." I flash her my fangs, hopin' it'll scare her off.

"Not gonna work."

"Sure it will. They'll be too busy killing you guys to notice me sneaking away."

"No, I meant you trying to scare me off. It won't work. I've seen things Buffy never knew about. And because she's going to be back soon, and have your memories, I'm not going to tell you what they are. But my sister as a vampire doesn't scare me. Sorry. And that thing you're trying to do? Get into Faith's pants? That won't work, either. She's too in love with my sister. The only way you'll ever get in her pants is if we get your soul back. If we get Buffy back."

I fall silent. She's assuming that I'm upset because Faith won't let me fuck her, but that's not it. That's not really it at all. That's just annoying. Not upsetting. No one can know what _I'm _afraid of. No one.

**So... anyone got any reviews for me? Anyone? Hello? Heeeeellllllooooooooooooo?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Risen**

**AN: Okay, so I thought I'd do something different with this chapter. This chapter is going to be told mostly from BUFFY's point of view. I'm not talking about vampire Buffy. I'm talking about the REAL Buffy. As in, Buffy's soul. It'll be like Buffy's watching everything that's going on right now, though I'll try not to reveal too much. I don't want to give the ending away, or anything, otherwise, there'd be no point in any of my readers continuing to read this story! But you know, as I type this author's note, I'm wondering to myself how many people actually **_**read**_** these little notes, or just skip past them to get to the story. Huh. I could probably type anything I want to up here, and nobody would ever really pay attention. Hmmm... Horseshoe, donkey-tail, ladybug, dog ears, rabbit feet, stop sign, diga-diga-diga-diga! Okay, I'm sorry about that burst of randomness to anyone who actually read that. I just watched one of Jeff Dunham's Comedy Central routines on my DVR, and I've got it stuck in my mind right now. Anyone who's seen this scene from this routine knows which one I'm talking about. "It's like taking a bunch of blind people to see David Copperfield! 'The elephant disappeared... It just disappeared... You should see... Oh, I'm sorry!'"**

* * *

**Chapter 8...**

I remember my last moments like it was just yesterday. Then again, as a dead person, time doesn't really mean anything, so I guess, for me, it could have been yesterday. Or it could be tomorrow. or it could be happening right now. Anyway, it pretty much sucked, dying. I mean that figuratively, though I guess it's kind of literal, too.

_I'm fighting several vamps at once. As soon as we charged, the vampires broke rank and attacked us. We were all highly trained, and were pretty much the longest activated Slayers in existence, with the exception of Kennedy, who was with Willow at another battle somewhere else in the desert, and the few Slayers who survived Battle Sunnydale. A few hundred vampires should be nothing, right?_

_ Apparently, I'm right. Dust is flying with every vamp I stake. I never really get a scratch on me. It seems like they were hoping to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. Under normal circumstances, they'd be right, but when it comes to Slayers and adrenaline, nothing is ever normal. We're already as fast as vampires, but with adrenaline, we're three, no, four times as fast. And four times as strong. These vampires don't seem to have been out of the ground for long. Even with the somehow natural martial arts skills that they pick up, they're still falling like... something that falls really easily. Okay, so as easy as I say it is to kill them, my concentration is still solely on killing them, because if it's not, then one of them _will _inevitably get lucky, and I'll die. _

_ Then, it happens. I'm down to the last vamp, but it's more skilled than the others. I underestimate it. It gets me in a headlock and bites into my neck. I can feel my life slipping away as I bleed out into its mouth. I kick and scream, and do everythingI can think of to get free, but I'm being drained too quickly. I'm so weak. I do the only other thing I can think of. I bite down on his arm. My teeth cause him to back away a little, and remove his fangs from my neck. Too weak to stand on my own, I topple to the ground and feel dust scatter over my body as the vampire that bit me was staked. I manage to turn in my fall so I land face up and I look into the eyes of my rescuer, who is now screaming down at my body in horror. I die in Faith's arms, and I'm mad. I'm pissed because I never told her how I really felt for her. I know she knew, but I still never actually said it. I was afraid. Afraid that something bad would happen. I've been in love before. I've been told I fall in love too easily, that I'm asking to be hurt, but that never stopped me before. I loved Angel. He was my first true love. It was more than a crush. I truly loved him. And look at what happened then. He went evil, and I had to kill him. He came back, and I fell in love all over again, but he left me. Then there was Riley, though by then, I already knew I was in love with Faith. But I let myself believe that I loved him. But I couldn't stop him from leaving._

_ Every time I fall in love, I get hurt. That's why I never told Faith. I was afraid of getting hurt. But now, now that I'm lying in her arms, dead, I realize, I was going to get hurt anyway. I should have at least enjoyed being with Faith while it lasted. _

_ And now she won't stop crying over my body. She won't let anyone near me. She looks insane right now. She looks possessed. I hate seeing her like this. I wish I never saw that, because I can't get the image out of my head. _

And since time means nothing to me now that I'm dead, it feels like I've been seeing that image in my head for eternity, and only a few seconds at the same time.

I don't know how to explain how I feel right now. I don't feel like I'm in Hell. I don't feel like I'm in Heaven. I feel like I'm... everywhere... and nowhere at the same time. I feel like I embody everything, but don't really exist, either. I feel like... a contradiction. I don't know how else to describe it. But I can see what's happening right now, I remember everything that's happened in the past, and I know what's going to happen in the future, both near, and in the distant future.

But I focus on the present.

Faith is helping that demon in my body escape from the Watchers. At first, I was mad, thinking that she needed to kill it while she had the chance. Don't let me become... _that_. But then... I realize that she's going to get me back. I don't know how I feel about that. I don't know. I feel... I'm tired. I'm tired of always fighting evil, risking my life every night and day to kill demons. I'm tired. But... Faith isn't going to go get me back to force me to fight again. She's going to get me back to... to get _me_ back. She loves me, and I wish I could tell her now that I'm here. I wish I could give her some kind of sign that I'm here, and tell her how I love her, how I'm _in love_ with her. I realize that, even if I were to go to Heaven right this moment, it wouldn't be Heaven without her. I've been in Heaven before. And I've wanted to go back there ever since Willow tore me out. I never wanted anything more than to go back. Until Faith was back in my life.

When she came back, and we started to build a friendship again, living in the real world was finally bearable again. I didn't miss being in Heaven as much with her around. And, over time, my desire to go back lessened more and more, until I didn't miss Heaven at all, even when I was looking into the eyes of demons, so long as Faith was beside me, there was nowhere I'd rather have been.

But now, seeing her in this cave with Angel, Dawn, Oz and my vampire look-alike, I hate seeing her like this almost as much as I hated seeing her holding my body after I died. She still looks insane, and she grows more and more deranged every hour. It's like I was the only thing keeping her sane this whole time. I know that right now, I'd do anything to get back to her. But, since I'm nothing more than a soul right now, I can't do anything. At all. I can't communicate with her, I can't fight beside her, I can't do anything to help. And I know she can't hear me, but when I see my vampire look-alike beating her up after that game of Truth-or-Dare, I'm screaming, begging myself to stop. To leave Faith alone. To leave _my_ Faith alone.

Then, I'm alone with Faith, my doppelganger having gone back to the rest of the group. Faith curls up into the fetal position and lets it all out. She's crying silently, and I'm amazed at how strong she still is, even with everything that's going on. I know her strength is holding on by a thread, only the hope that she can get me back is keeping her strong. That's all that's keeping her on this side of sanity. But it's still something. She's so strong right now, though I know she feels vulnerable. And my Faith _hates_ feeling vulnerable.

Her cries are so silent, even my Slayer hearing is having a hard time hearing her. She can't feel me, But I still lay on the ground beside her, and I wrap my arms around her protectively, and I cry with her. I know how this ends. I know every possible future branching out from this moment, and I don't know which one I'd rather have happen. Because none of them are good. There are only four possible endings right now. Of course, there are actually countless endings, but if you're looking at it as a general ending, there's only four.

One, Faith succeeds in getting my soul back. Everyone survives, but the catch is, I have to sacrifice my love for her. When I get my soul back, I don't love her anymore, no matter how badly I want to. No matter how badly _she_ wants me to.

Two, again, they get my soul back. This time, I'm still in love with Faith, and we get together. But, we have to stay on the run. Us and everyone who helped Faith get my soul back, including some people who aren't with her right now. Otherwise, the Council kills us all.

Three, Faith decides to kill the vampire me. She drives a stake through my heart. With my body no longer anchoring me down, I go to Heaven, but Faith feels guilty. She turns herself into the Council, and they execute her. They execute her, and track down and kill everyone who helped her.

Finally, the only other ending, Faith continues on her quest. She tries to get my soul back, but vampire me betrays her. Dawn and Oz get separated from us, and I kill Faith. I escape, and am eventually tracked down and killed. Dawn and Oz get away and go into hiding.

But none of these endings are good. None of them. If Faith succeeds, we have to go into hiding, and either I don't love her, or I lose someone I care about, and it could end up actually being Faith. If Faith fails, everyone dies. No happy endings. Then again, we're Slayers. We never get happy endings, anyway.

Finally, Faith gets up and dries her eyes. By the time she gets back to the rest of the group, she looks as if nothing happened at all, except she kind of flinches when she moves. I think she might have a couple broken ribs. They'll heal quickly, though. That's the one thing I always liked about being a Slayer, we heal quickly.

Faith takes a short walk outside, and announces that they should leave soon. Angel, however, is still pretty stubborn, saying that they should wait until the next morning. Dawn and Oz agree with him, so Faith is out voted.

So, instead, Faith lays down on the ground further inside the cave, puts her arms under her head, and falls asleep. Vampy-me stands in the mouth of the cave with Angel, keeping watch, so she never notices Dawn and Oz curling up beside each other, falling asleep in each other's arms.

I sit on the ground and stare at Faith while she sleeps. She had been tossing and turning for about ten minutes, but now she's calm, like she can feel me nearby. I smile. A lonely smile. I miss her, though she's right here. I miss being able to feel her. I miss being able to punch her arm playfully whenever she made a joke about us sleeping together, not-very-subtly beating around the bush. I miss being able to smell her shampoo and perfume, whenever she wore perfume. I miss being able to hear her voice. That's another thing. Since I'm dead, I can't hear anything. I can tell what she's saying, though. I don't know how, but I can. But it's not the same as hearing her say it. I love her voice.

I feel like there's this barrier between us, like some kind of wall. Like if I were just a bit stronger, I could break the barrier and touch her right now. It's so frustrating! If I were just strong enough to break that barrier, I could reach out with my ghostly hand and stroke her hair.

I reach out to touch her, but my hand just goes right through her. I get angry at the sight, it's pissing me off. All I want is to brush the hair from her face so I can see her, and I can't even do that! I recoil in anger, and I feel the rage building inside me as my hand slips out of her head. Finally, I feel the rage explode, and I'm left weakened. I've done a spell or two with Willow when she needed help, mainly so I could know what she feels. It feels like that. I feel like my energy just left me in a major spell when I pull back. But I notice something. Her hair moved.

It could have been the wind, blowing her hair out of her face, but somehow, I don't believe that. I think that my emotions acted as energy of some kind, and it let me move her hair. In the moment that I think I became solid, Faith sighed, like someone actually touched her.

I think it was me. I think I actually touched her.

I have to test this. I reach over and I try to do it again. I try to stroke her hair, but like before, my hand goes right through. I try again, and again, and again, but I have no more success. No matter what I try to do, the only time I succeed in touching her is that first time.

I seem to remember something like this in a movie. I think it was a romantic movie. So Faith wouldn't have any idea about it. Unless it was one of the ones I forced her to watch.

Hmm... Patrick Swayze... Demi Moore... Whoopi Goldberg? That's right. Ghost. The movie "Ghost". I love that movie. I remember the advice that homeless looking ghost guy gave Patrick Swayze in the movie, how to move things. Something about using your anger.

Well, I have lots of anger. I'm an angry person.

I was forced into a destiny I never asked for. I was forced to fight for my life night after night after night. I was forced to risk my life and the lives of everyone I cared about to save the world. I was forced to give up on having a normal life, give up on finding love. I died to protect a bunch of power hungry assholes who were too scared to risk their _own_ lives to save the world, instead, relying on an army of teenage girls to do their dirty work. Finally, what's the thanks I get for _dying_ to protect them? They want to drive a stake through my heart.

I'm a very angry person. This should be easy.

As I think about everything I've lost, and everything I _haven't_ gained, I feel the rage finally rising again. I stand up and let it all out as I kick a rock. The rock soars through the air, and the sound of it bouncing off the walls of the cave echoes throughout the den, causing everyone to jump.

"What was that?" I hear Angel ask. I _heard_ him ask it. I actually heard something. I'm almost in tears at the realization. But now that the rage has left, leaving me weakened again, I can't hear them anymore, which leaves me grief-stricken, because now Faith is talking.

She says something about checking for other openings in the cave, making sure the Watchers aren't sneaking the army in another way. She and Oz get up to go check. I don't follow. Instead, I stay and keep an eye on myself.

She passes the time in silence. I get the feeling that she can tell I'm near, just like Faith can. She scowls whenever I'm near.

_That's right, bitch. It's me._ I think. _You'd better stay the fuck away from my Faith. Stop trying to get into her pants, already. It's pissing me off. _I'll_ stake you, if I have to. Now that I know how to touch things, I'll do it. _

* * *

(Faith's POV)...

Once me and Oz are headin' into the cave, lookin' for other openings, I feel... I don't know... empty. Even emptier than I've been feelin' all along. I don't know why. It's like there was this boulder that I was holdin' up, and until I just got up and left the group, it felt like there was someone... or somethin' there, helpin' me hold it. But now I'm all alone. I'm the only one holdin' the boulder now.

I really hate that I got woken up. I was finally sleepin' good. I felt comfortable, despite bein' on the cold, hard ground in the cave. I don't know why. There's been several things in the past few hours that I couldn't explain if I tried. Times where I've felt comfortable, almost loved, when there's no reason I should've. Like when I was curled up in the back of the cave, cryin'. Suddenly, I just felt comfortable.

And when B was beatin' the shit outta me, I could almost hear the real Buffy screamin', beggin' her to stop. I felt at peace.

God, I swear, I've read somethin' like this before. No one knows it, but I'm actually every bit as much a sucker for romance as B. I read Twilight. Yes, I actually read that series. And, aside from the fact that those things in the series were obviously _not_ vampires, I actually enjoyed it. I remember New Moon. It's been a while since I read the series, so I think it was New Moon, but I might be wrong. Maybe it was Eclipse. Anyway, I remember this part, where Bella's all fucked up in the head, hallucinatin', seein' Edward any time she's in danger, so she keeps puttin' herself in danger just so she can see him. That's how I feel right now. Like, if I were to put myself in danger right now, I might feel B somewhere nearby. Like if I got hurt, I'd feel her there, comfortin' me, beggin' me not to do somethin' like that again. And damn it, I'm actually considerin' it.

"Hey, Oz... Do you think... Do you think that ghosts are real?" I ask Scruffy beside me.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just answer the fuckin' question, would ya?"

He thinks for a minute. "I think so. I mean, I like to believe it. I know Dawn does. She told me that there was this time that she was talking to her mom's ghost. So... yeah, I guess I do believe in ghosts."

_Okay, then he won't think I'm completely fucked up._ "Do... do you think-"

"I don't know."

"You don't even-"

"Yes I do. You were going to ask if I thought maybe Buffy was a ghost now, and if she's with us, watching us. I don't know. I don't know if she's a ghost now. I mean, she's dead, but she's alive at the same time. I don't know if someone can be two different forms of the undead at the same time."

"Well... It's just... I think I've been feelin' her lately. Like, I can feel her close... I don't know... maybe it's just wishful thinkin'. Maybe I'm just hopin' too hard orsomethin', and it's just a hallucination."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe you sense Buffy's soul. I mean, as a Slayer, you're more in tune with the undead than others. Maybe you're sensing her soul nearby, like it hasn't decided to leave competely yet. Maybe Buffy's fighting to get back. It's possible."

I smile. "Yeah. If anyone's stubborn enough to come back to life three fuckin' times, it's her. God, I bet she's drivin' Death fuckin' insane, with all her resurrections."

Oz chuckles.

"Yeah." We walk the rest of the way in silence. Then head back in silence when we don't find any other holes.

...

"Well, we went all the way back, but there's no other ways in or out." I say when I'm close enough to talk to Angel. "We're alone in here."

Angel nods. "Well, the sun's going to come up any minute now. If you're going to leave, might as well go now."

I nod in reply. "Let's go."

...

* * *

(Omniscient POV)...

Angel's alone in the cave now. He's set his mind now. He's all ready. He's come to terms with what he has to do. The Watchers are fixing to invade the cave. They had been keeping watch all night, thinking there was no way they'd leave in the middle of the day, when Buffy would burst into flame when the sun was up. Since they never left last night, they're still in the cave, obviously.

Ah. Here they come now. The Watchers are coming.

"Angelus? Where are they?" One of the Watchers ask. Angel doesn't recognize him.

"I go by Angel. And since I don't recognize you, that means you're lower down on the political ladder. That means you should refer to me as _Councillor_ Angel. Not "Angelus", Councillor Angel."

He sighs. "Fine then, _Councillor Angel_. Where are they?"

"They're gone. Buffy took my ring, so she's immune to the sunlight now. I'm not, though. So, if you want to kill me, kill me. Otherwise, you'd probably better figure out where they're going, and get them."

The Watcher curses under his breath, and retreats from the cave. Angel can hear the trucks pulling away in the distance, combing the desert for the runaways.

_Well... Here goes nothing._ Angel stands up from where he had been sitting on a rock in the cave. He walks closer to the opening, stopping just before he left the shadows and steped into the sun.

"Buffy... If you're there, I hope you find happiness with her. Don't you dare break her heart." Angel said aloud. He felt like the message had been recieved. With that knowledge, he stepped forward, ignoring the flames that were now spreading rapidly across his body. With one last look of defiance on his face, he looked straight up at the sun high in the sky and spread his arms out to either side. He didn't cry out in pain. He just stood there and let the flames consume him.

* * *

**Well, I was going for an emotional ending to this chapter, so... how'd I do? I'd appreciate the input anyone has to provide.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Risen**

**Chapter 9...**

We're in a heavily wooded area now, barely any sun gettin' through the trees. We left the desert behind some time a couple days ago, and hitched a ride from some small town. The car broke down just outside of the forest a few hours ago, and the Watchers caught up to us. We ran into the forest so they couldn't follow us with their trucks, but we're still runnin' from the army of Slayers that are followin' us on foot. We can't see them behind us anymore, but they're still there. They're not gonna give up.

Dawn stumbles on a tree root for a second, but Oz catches her and we all keep running. We can't slow down for a second, or they'll get us.

Finally, I stop, and Oz and Dawn crash into me. Buffy stops right beside me.

"What the-?" Dawn asked, then saw what I was lookin' at. We ran into a trap. About twenty different Slayers are lined up in front of us, crossbows loaded and pointed right at our chests. Even Buffy isn't fast enough to avoid them all.

And at the front of the group, walkin' up to us, is a Slayer we were all very familiar with. Especially Buffy. Satsu.

"Faith." Satsu nods to me, but her eyes are fixed on Buffy. They contain the same amount of grief as I feel. "Vampire." She says to Buffy.

"Come on, S-"

"Don't try using my first initial on me, Faith. That's what you do for friends. You and I... we're not friends." She says coldly.

"Ah. I see what this is about." I say. "You found out that I just happen to have feelin's for B, and it pisses you off."

"You what?!" Satsu growls. Apparently, she hadn't heard that yet.

"Okay, nevermind, then."

"So. You're in love with Buffy. And yet, you _let_ her become a monster, and you _let_ her kill other Slayers. Your friends. My friends. Kennedy's dead because you couldn't let her go."

"Well, you should understand. You're in-"

"No, Faith. I don't understand. If you truly loved Buffy, you would have driven a stake through her heart when she died. You wouldn't have let her turn. It would have been hard. You wouldn't have enjoyed it, and you'd probably hate yourself for doing it, but if you truly loved her, you wouldn't have let her turn. Everyone would have mourned her for a while, I could have grieved, you could have grieved, her other friends and family could have grieved, but none of this would have happened, and we could still be focusing on killing the _real_ bad guys. The vampires. The demons. We could be killing them right now, together, instead of having to track you guys down so we could put a stake through one specific vampire's heart."

"I take it they didn't tell you what I'm tryin' to do, huh?" I ask.

"Doesn't matter. It's obvious. You're trying to get away. You want her all for yourself, you just can't stomach the thought of her turning to a pile of dust."

"True. But I'm actually tryin' to get her soul back. I'm tryin' to get _Buffy_ back."

That surprizes her, but she recovers. "So. You want to rip her out of Heaven again? Where's the justice, Faith? She deserves to be in Heaven, and you want to just rip her back out _again_? Besides, you know that if you succeed, she'll have to give up something that means the same to her as her soul. She'll lose something of equal value."

"Yeah? Well, I also know that I can offer to make the sacrifice myself."

And now she's surprized again. And the surprize doesn't fade after a minute or two.

"Wait... what?"

"Yeah. You didn't know that? See, I can make the sacrifice myself. Way I see it, I'm willin' to sacrifice anythin' to get her back. Even my own life. If I have to die in order for her to come back, then that's what I'll do." I can feel everyone's eyes on me. Satsu's, Dawn's, Oz's, every one of the Slayers behind Satsu is starin' at me in disbelief. But most of all, I can feel Buffy's eyes on me.

"So... You're serious about this?" Satsu asks.

"Dead. I'm dead serious. And no half-pint, fresh outta the academy Slayer wannabe and her little girl scouts is gonna stop me. I really hope it doesn't come to this, but if I have to, I'll kill every single one of you, and I'll sleep like a fuckin' baby after." I'm starin' her in the eyes, hopin' I'm gettin' my point across. I doubt that even me and B together could take Satsu and the other twenty Slayers, but I've made my point. There's gonna be a fight, and a lot of people are gonna die. People who didn't ask for any of this. People who deserve to go home and live normal lives.

"Well... The way I see it, we have a few choices. A, you can surrender."

"Not gonna happen."

"Didn't think so. B, you can try and push past. My Slayers will open fire and kill all of you. You might kill a few of them, maybe even most of them. I'll die, you'll die, Buffy will die, almost everyone here will die."

"Next option?"

"What I thought. C, you can capture me, but refuse to take me with you. I order my Slayers to kill me and all of you. Basically, a repeat of option B will happen, just with a different beginning. Same end, though. Almost everyone dies. D, you can capture me right now. You use me as leverage to get past my Slayers, and we all make a run for it are your choices. A, surrender and die. B, keep fighting, and everyone dies. C, capture me and I tell my Slayers to kill everyone. Everyone dies. D, you capture me, and we all get through this together. You gain some more help. Two Slayers and a Slaypire is better than one Slayer and a Slaypire."

I hesitate. I know this is a bad idea. Takin' S with us. It's a bad idea. Me and her, we'll be constantly fightin', arguin'. Especially since both of us are in love with B. But on the other hand, if she thinks there's a chance that we can get Buffy back, there's nothin' she won't do to save her. She'll sacrifice herself just the same as I will to save B, and that's somethin' I can use more of right now.

"Fine." I whisper. "I think door number four is the only way we're gettin' out of this alive."

"That's the one I thought you'd take. I'm glad you did. I want to help, Faith. Let me help."

"I already said you're in."

"No, you said that this is the only way we're all getting out of this alive."

"Same difference."

Satsu smirked. "Well, I suggest you overpower me now, then. Otherwise, my Slayers'll get suspi-" She yelped as I grabbed her by the shoulders and got her in a headlock. I held her between us and the other Slayers, who were all pointin' their weapons at us.

"Drop them!" I shout, and they all hesitate. Satsu nods, and I'll bet she looks terrified right now. The Slayers all, one by one, drop their weapons. "B, Dawn, Oz, could you go pick a few of those up? We might need them later."

Buffy, Dawn and Oz go and each grab a crossbow and a quiver of bolts, then carry them all back to stand behind me as they strap on the quivers and crossbows to their backs.

"Alright, now nice and slow, move to the left. Back away from the weapons, and let us through without any trouble, or you'll get your leader back in two pieces. First you'll get the head, then, once we're all dead, you can come over and get the rest of her body back. Okey-dokey?" I sing-song the last part. They all back away from the weapons with their hands in the air, and we slowly inch past them. Once we're out of sight of them, I let Satsu go, and we all make a run for it. Soon, we leave the woods behind. I look at my phone's GPS, and see that we're only abou fifty miles from the city we were tryin' to get to. We can cover that distance in less than a day. Buffy could have her soul back tomorrow.

...

I can't believe I have Tara back. Don't get me wrong, I loved Kennedy, but Tara... Tara is my soul. I've felt lost ever since she died, and now she's back. I have her back, and as far as I can see, she's exactly the same. Nothing feels off about her at all, she's just as I remember her, right down to her aura. I checked her magically, and she's perfect. She has all ofthe scars she got growing up. None of them is missing, and no new ones have appeared. I would know. I know Tara's body better than I know my own. The entire ride back to the Underground, I filled her in on what all's happened, and the first thing we did when we got back was head up to my room and reacquaint ourselves with each other's body. We made love for hours, and I told her about each and every single mark I've recieved since she died. I even told her about Kennedy. She got sad, and teared up when I told her about Kennedy, but that didn't last long at all, because I proved to her just how much I missed her, and how much I love her.

I mean, when I'm with Tara, yeah, I still miss Kennedy, but it seems more like I'm missing a dog I had when I was young. I feel complete finally.

But now I feel guilty for being so happy when Faith, and Dawn, and Oz, and Angel are all out there, risking their lives to get Buffy back. Tara does, too. So, I figure, maybe there's something we can do about it.

"Tara, baby?" I ask, and she stirs beside me. She hugs the sheets to her chest, making sure to stay covered.

"What is it?" She asks, concerned.

"Um... What are the conditions you have, exactly? To stay with me, I mean? What exactly did they say we'd have to do?"

"Um... They said we have to come back here. They said if we leave to go help Faith and Buffy escape, then I'll..."

"You'll die again?"

Tara nods, remembering the fear she felt as she faded after being shot. I told her about what I did to Warren, too. She didn't like that, but she relaxed when I told her I have total control over my powers now, thanks to the coven in England.

"So, basically, we can't leave the Underground to go help them?"

"That's what they said."

"Well... What if... What if I could send someone else to help? Would that break the rules?"

Tara smiles. "No. I don't think so. Who are you going to send?"

I smile back. "Me."

Tara frowns. "But...?"

"Well, it is me, but it's not really me. It kind of is, but kind of isn't."

"Wait, did you build a Willowbot, or something?"

"No. But... remember how I told you about how I started to suspect I was gay?"

"The vampire you from another dimension?"

"Yes. Well... Back when Anya was still trying to get her powers back, she tricked me into doing a spell, and-"

"And that spell is what brought vampire Willow here, right?"

"Yeah. Well... Anya always remembers things like that. I... I think I can figure out how to cast the spell again, with her help. I... I think I can summon vampire me from that dimension. And... I might be able to get her to help Buffy. Technically, I wouldn't be leaving here, so I wouldn't be breaking the rules, and Faith and the others would still have more help!" I'm excited now. I feel really good about this. I think it will work.

"How do you know she'll agree?"

"Well, we're both pretty powerful witches. I'm sure we can control her. We'll make her a deal, or something."

"But what do we have that she wants?" Tara asks.

I chuckle. "Well, me, for one." I joke.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just remembering how vampire me was hitting on human, still-think-I'm-straight me."

"Wait... You were attracted to yourself?" Tara asks humorously.

"Well, now you're making me sound narcissistic."

Tara laughs.

"But yes. Vampire me tried to get me to let her turn me and have sex with her."

"Hmmm..." Tara says, then I realize it's a moan.

"Oh my god!" I exclaim.

"What?" Tara asks innocently.

"You were just picturing it!"

"Picturing what?"

"Me! And the other me! Sleeping together!"

"No I wasn't." She says.

"Yes, you were!"

"No, I was picturing both of you sleeping with _me_." Tara says with a wicked grin. I gulp. Now that I think about it, it is a nice fantasy. Only, my version involves two Tara's, not two me's. Or Tara, me, and Kennedy. But two Tara's sounds better.

I push her shoulder playfully.

"Hmm..." Tara moans again.

"Stop that!" I shriek.

"No, seriously. I was just thinking... Maybe... if she still... you know..."

"Wait... You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?" I ask cautiously.

"Well... You never know. Maybe... Maybe she'll want both of us?"

"And you're really hoping for it, aren't you?" I tease.

"Maybe a little. I mean, having even just one Willow is amazing. But two of you? God, it gives me chills just thinking about it." She has that sly grin on her face I can't resist. I know I'm going to lose this battle.

"Fine. If she wants us, we'll give her what she wants." I agree after a few moments of silence. She squeals with delight.

"Okay, but first, we have to summon her here." She says, and I nod.

"I'll go find Anya." I say, then move to get up, but she holds me down.

"Not yet." Tara says, and the look in her eye tells me exactly what she wants right now. "While two of you sounds amazing, right now, I just want one. I just want you right now."

I smile as I lean over and kiss her again, and our several hour-long lovemaking session begins again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Risen**

**AN: So, I've been thinking about doing a Post-Chosen fic about Buffy abandoning her Slayer destiny for a normal life after Battle: Sunnydale. So, she lives day-to-day for a while, but eventual ends up as a professional MMA fighter, with her little "identity" in the cage being "The Slayer". Coincidence, right? Anyway, with Slayer strength andspeed, no one can beat her, until someone does. When she calls for a rematch against this other masked fighter "The Exorcist", and manages to beat her, she unmasks her and comes face to face with one of the reasons she left the Slayer life. Faith. So? What do you think? Think I should write it or not? Tell me in a review or a PM (Private Message)!**

**Chapter 10...**

"Fuck." Willow said as she saw one of the "good guys" coming at her with a very large piece of sharpened wood. She just got back to her dimension, and now she was about to get staked. The wood was only inches away from dusting her.

Then, there was a swirl of bright whit lights, and she was gone.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of a circle of candles. There was a girl in front of her, and she could sense one behind her as well. She turned to face the other girl and gasped. It was _her!_ The "white hat" version of herself from the other dimension! The witch! But damn, she was looking good!

...

I stared into the eyes of my vampire self. She didn't look any different. She was much younger than me. And she still looked at me with those eyes that were trying to undress me. I think it's safe to say she still has the hots for me. Which, I suppose, is a form of masturbation. Wow, that's just wierd.

"Hey you." She grinned, baring her fangs. I paled.

"And you."

"Damn, I guess some time has passe here, huh? You look older."

"You don't."

"But we're both still hot as hell. So, rethink my offer, did you?"

"What offer was that again?" I play dumb.

"You know... You, and me, makin' lots and lots of... noise." She put her hands on my chest and purred.

Tara cleared her throat.

"Oh!" I back away. "Um... me, this is... Tara... my girlfriend... Tara, this is... me."

Vampy me looked back at Tara and smirked. "Girlfriend, huh? This sounds promising."

Tara blushed as Vampy me stared at her. I couldn't really get mad at her for undressing Tara with her eyes, because, technically, she's me, so Tara's technically _her_ girlfriend, too.

But I still don't like it.

"Hey! Eyes over here!" I snap, and she turned back towards me and grinned.

"So what's the deal here, huh? Callin' me up 'cause just one of me can't satisfy your girl over there? Takes two?" I paled again.

"No! I... I have a deal for you."

"A deal, huh? Whaddya got in mind?"

"We need your help with something. And... we're willing to pay..."

"Got no need for money."

"We kind of figured that. What do you want?"

"What do I have to do for it?"

"Some friends of ours are in trouble, but we can't go to them to help them. So, we want you to go help, instead."

"Why can't you do it yourself?"

"Well... let's just say... our hands are kind of tied at the moment."

"God, that's a good image." Vampy me grinned, and I paled again.

"Not like that! We... we just can't leave right now. So, will you do it?"

"Well... why don't I just name my price, and we can come to some sort of agreement?" She suggested, and turned to Tara. "I want me. Her. Whatever, you know what I mean." She nodded towards me. "I want her. If I do this, when I get back, I want her. And you. I want both of you. I've been kinda tied down to one man for a while, and I'm tired of driving stick. Think I'd like to have some fun with someone who knows how to please a girl. And who knows how to please a girl better than other girls?" She bared her fangs again, in a wicked grin. "Second... I don't wanna go back home. I just barely avoided getting staked before you called me back. You sent me back to the exact moment you took me from, and that moment involves a very not-friendly piece of wood going through my chest, and a future as a pile of dust. I wanna live in this world from now on. Don't care much what I've got to do to stay here."

Tara looked at me and nodded. Fair enough. "Fine." I said, and she turned back to me again. "Agreed. You help our friends, and you can have a night with me and Tara, and we won't send you back to your dimension."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. A night? No, that's not what I said. I said I want _you_ and your girlfriend. Not just one night. I _want_ you guys. I wanna make both of you scream as many times as I want."

I think I'm the only one that has a problem with that. Vampy me is grinning wickedly, and Tara looks... I don't know what she's thinking, but she's definitely not disappointed.

"Fine." I agree hesitantly, and Vampy me gets a victorious look on her face. "But if you're going to be our new girlfriend, there's something else you're going to have to do first. See, remember that blonde girl that kicked your ass last time you were here?"

"Ugh. Yeah. Slayer bitch."

"That's her. She's been turned."

"What?"

"She's a vampire now. She's one of the friends we're talking about. Along with a couple others. They're taking her to take this test. That's what we want you to help with. Help get her to the place where she's going to take the test. And the new thing you're going to have to do... you're going to take the same test. After Buffy's done with hers, you're going to take the same test."

"That's all? I gotta take some test?"

"That's all." I agreed. Tara's eyes flash mischief. She knows what I'm up to now, and she's not disagreeing.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll do it. Anything else?"

"No eating our friends would be nice. Or any humans at all, for that matter." Tara said, and I nod. Vampy me groans.

"Fine. That all?"

Tara and I think for a minute. Then, at the same time, "You need a new name."

...

Funny thing. You "kidnap" a high-ranking Slayer like the head of the fuckin' Japan Branch of the Slayer Organization, the rest of the Org doesn't take too kindly to it. Since yesterday, when we faked kidnappin' S, we've been found and attacked three fuckin' times by other Slayer squads, and once by an armored truck full of Watchers.

Of course, after the first time, when S teamed up with us to take down the small group of newbies, they probably figured out that it wasn't actually a kidnappin', so they'll probably be desparate to take us now before we recruit any more help. Hey. Recruit. Fuck, I can't believe I didn't think about that before.

And my chance comes about now. Another group of Slayers drop from the trees, ambushin' us.

B growls and S and me whip out our knives. Oz holds Dawn outta the way, so neither of them get mixed up in the battle. That's what we've been doin' lately. B, S and me do the fightin' while Oz uses his nose as a compass of sorts and finds us the way to the nearest town. Dawn is just kinda there for moral support, I guess, but hey, we could use all the moral support we can get right now. 'Specially with a group of twenty Slayers in front of us. Yeah, I know what you're thinkin', you got past one group of twenty before, startin' to see a pattern, but twenty Slayers is a bunch. Only the strongest Slayers get put in charge of that big a squad.

I myself, when I do field work, get about twenty-five in my squad. B usually got more around forty or so, though that's because she was the High Slayer, and her squad was made up of three or four smaller squads with a whole chain of command thing. Everyone reports to B, but most of 'em have a secondary commander they refer to for orders, which B can overrule, of course, but still... Not that this is relevant, of course.

Anyway, there they are, an array of stakes, knives, crossbows, swords and even a few axes. They're well prepared to take us down.

And at the front is a Slayer I'm all too familiar with. Because I trained her. Her name is Lexi Powers, and she's a natural. I mean, I'm a natural, B's a natural, S is a natural. Lexi is every bit as skilled as any of us, and if she trains her underlings like I trained her, every one of them will be lethal even to us more experienced Slayers.

And none of them will show an ounce of mercy.

"Crossbows!" Lexi shouts, and about half of the Slayers pointed their crossbows right at us. "Fire!" A volley of bolts flies forth, and I can see right away that they're not gonna miss.

But then, they striked some kinda force field in front of us, and they bounce off harmlessly. I look back to see Dawn standin' there with her arms outstretched.

"Watchers are supposed to undergo some training in magick. I excelled in that part of the training. I'm nowhere near as powerful as Willow but shields are pretty easy for me."

I nod grudgingly, and me, B and S are standin' at the ready, waitin' for the attack. But as long as we're just standin' here...

"You do know what we're tryin' to do right, Lex?" I ask.

"Yeah. I've been informed. Trying to get Buffy's soul back."

"And you know what that means, don't you?"

"Yeah. It means she'll be back to normal, but have the combined strength of a true Slayer and a vampire. That makes her too dangerous. Plus, she's killed several Slayers. Even if you get her soul back, that crime is punishable by death. And you've been helping her. That makes you an accessory. You, Satsu, Dawn, Daniel, Willow, Xander, Giles and Angelus all. That means you guys will all share her fate once everything is over with."

"Wait, Red, Xan and G? They were promised they wouldn't be prosecuted if they gave up."

"Well, they also haven't been helping track you down, either. That makes them accessories again, and that carries the death penalty. So, your options are: surrender or fight. If you surrender, then all of you, along with Anyanka and Tara Maclay will meet the death penalty. But your deaths will be swift and painless. If you fight, then a lot of Slayers will die, and all of you will still die, but there's no guarantee it'll be slow. And then, it'll all be over, and Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander and Anyanka will be executed."

"You forgot a name, Lex. You're getting careless."

"Oh? Who did I forget, then?"

"Angel."

Lexi sneered, and I got a bad feeling. "Angelus was witnessed stepping out into the sunlight some time a few days ago. Since your _girlfriend_ there took the Gem of Amarra from him, he burnt to ashes."

Tears are welling up in my eyes, and I can feel B's emotions surfacin', too. Seems even B as a vampire still loves him.

I loved Angel. I mean, I wasn't _in love with_ him, but I did love him. He was the only one who stood by me when I was at my worst. And for that, I'll always have a place in my heart for him. Hearin' he's gone, I feel almost as lost as I felt sittin' on the ground, holdin' B as she died.

"You're wrong, Lex. He... He wouldn't do that... Not Angel... He was always workin'... Tryin' to redeem himself... He told me that our job of redeemin' ourselves was never over, that we'd be workin' our asses off for redemption for the rest of our existences... He wouldn't give up... Not Angel... Never Angel..."

"Well, the witness video taped it so she could prove to the Council she wasn't trying to cover for you guys. I have the tape with me if you want-"

"Fuck you!" I scream, horrified.

"I'll take that as a no. So, what are you going to do, Faith? Unlike Satsu, I'm completely against your goal. I'm not going to betray the Organization to help you. So, if you fight, then it'll be two Slayers, a wannabe Watcher, a werewolf with a muzzle, and a Slaypire versus a small army of highly trained Slayer elites. If you surrender, then no more lives will be lost except yours. So what'll it be?"

I swallow and look around at everyone. I wipe the tears out of my eyes. There'll be time for cryin' later. I see Oz and Dawn standin' to the side, holdin' each other, scared. Satsu's lookin' around cautiously, but she's holdin' her ground. B's doin' the same, but she doesn't look concerned in the least, just pissed. Probably 'cause she can't die. Not with that Gem of Amarra. I look around at the other Slayers, each of them terrified, knowin' that if I choose fight, not all of them will make it out alive, but none of them are waverin'. They have such blind faith in the Council, thinkin' that the Council actually cares. And Lexi just lets them believe that, I'll bet. Despite everythin' that I taught her.

And I realise I'm shakin'. I'm afraid. I know that I'm goin' to die now. It'll happen just like Lexi said. I always promised myself that I'd go down fightin', but I don't want to fight my own people. Slayers. I want to die fightin' vamps. I wanna die takin' down no less than three vamps with me. Not Slayers. That's why I'm shakin'. Not 'cause I'm gonna die, but 'cause I know that I'm gonna have to kill these Slayers. Knockin' them out like I've been doin' won't work. They're too tough for that. I'm gonna have to kill them.

There's only one way I can think of where I might survive. Me and B, Dawn, Oz, and, at least hopefully, S.

"Hey you." I say to one of the Slayers, and she flinches. "Step forward."

"Stay in rank!" Lexi shouts.

"Look, I just wanna talk, okay? Wanna ask you somethin'."

The Slayer looked over at Lexi, who sighed and nodded. The Slayer took a step forward.

"What's your name, girl?"

"E... Errin."

"Errin? How old are you, Errin?"

"Th... Thirteen."

I choke back tears. The damn Council sends thirteen fuckin' year olds to do they're dirty work!"

"Thirteen, huh? Tell me, do you know who we are?"

"The... The Chosen Two... Buffy and Faith..." She responds, and I nod. The others look annoyed that they weren't included in that.

"Right. So, do you think the Council actually cares about you? About any of you?" I look around at the rest of them, and they all look confused. "Why the hell would the Council send a bunch of _kids_ to take down the two strongest Slayers in existence, especially when one of them has the strength of a vampire on _top_ of her Slayer strength? Plus, we've got the head of the Japan Branch with us, a Pack Alpha and a future Watcher who just happens to excell in magic! Why would they do that, unless they know that there's enough of you to kill all of us, even if more than half of you die in the process?! That's why they didn't send their best teams! Because to them, you're expendable!"

"No! The Council cares!" Lexi shouts.

"Bullshit! The Council sees us as weapons to be used however the fuck they want! They get rich, and we get to die fightin' monsters every fuckin' night! Only two of them have _ever_ cared about Slayers. One of them is imprisoned by the Council, and the only reason the other one is still around is because he sided with the Council this time!"

"The Council is made of Watchers, Slayers, witches, werewolves _and _ensouled vampires!"

"It used to be! But the Watchers hold all the power! There are just enough seats on the Council for non-Watchers to make everyone _feel_ like they've got a say in things, but now enough to actually _give _everyone a say in things! Tell me, how many of you have lost friends to the vampires, and had to drive a stake through their hearts to make sure they don't come back as a vampire?"

Silence followed, but then fifteen of them raised their hands. Including Lexi.

"What if we didn't have to do that anymore? That's what the Council is afraid of!" As soon as I say it, I know it's true. I'm realizin' everythin' as I'm sayin' it. "The Council is afraid that if this works, and I can get Buffy's soul back, then the door would be opened to that option, and suddenly, re-ensouled Slaypires would be poppin' up everywhere because their friends decide that they don't wanna follow protocol and stab their friends' bodies anymore! Then, we'd finally end up realizin' that we don't _need_ the Watchers, after all! They wouldn't be able to control us anymore! We'd be stronger than them! They'd be useless! And they don't want to lose control of us!"

When I'm done, everyone, even Lexi, is silent. Even B seems to be impressed.

I look around, and see Lexi starin' at the ground, shakin'. Suddenly, she looks back up at me.

"We will not join you." She growls. "We're not going to make targets of ourselves to the Watchers."

I sigh. I'd been hopin' that we could get outta this without anymore bloodshed.

"But..." She continues, "If, say, your group, far smaller than mine, was able to move more swiftly through the forest, and evade us, then no more blood need be spilled, and my Slayers and I would not necessarily become targets."

_Wait, she's gonna let us go?_

"What are you sayin', Lex?"

"Slayers!" She shouts, and all her Slayers stand at attention. "From this day forth, the events of this encounter are confidential. Need-to-know only! And the Council does _not_ need to know. Understand?"

"Yes, Captain Lexi!" They all shout, and I see sighs of relief and grins throughout the Slayers.

"Good. Everyone's report will reflect that Councillors-slash-Former High-Slayers Faith Lehane and Buffy Summers, along with Councillor-slash-Former Pack Alpha Daniel Osbourne, and Councillor-slash-Watcher In Training Dawn Summers... evaded us in the forest. We never spotted them, and therefore our mission was a failure. No one is to speak of this incident at all, even to each other. Today... never happened."

"Understood!"

I hear a rustlin' in the bushes and see a small girl runnin' away. From what I could see of her get-up, she was a Slayer. And she was obviously running to inform the Watchers of what happened.

She's too far away to catch. And everyone else can tell that as well.

Lex sighs before takin' a crossbow and aimin' at the runaway.

"No." I say. "I'll do it." I take the crossbow away from her. I have better aim, anyway. Besides, she trained that girl. I can't let her kill her.

But, as it happens, I don't need to.

She's suddenly tackled by somethin' that sends everyone's Slayer instincts flarin'. A vampire.

"Get it!" Lexi shouts, but then we realize the vamp is walkin' towards us, with the Slayer's arms pinned behind her back.

"Easy there, she's not hurt. Except, I might have... accidentally... dislocated her shoulder." The vampiress says. The girl screams as a little more pressure is put on her arms. "Yup. Dislocated."

The vampiress tosses the girl to the ground and puts her hands up. Satsu, Buffy, Dawn, Oz and I gasp. It's Red!

"Take aim!" Lexi shouts, and those with a crossbow aims at the vampiress.

"Wait!" I shout, and step in the way.

"Faith! What are you doing?!" Lex growls.

"I know her. Red? What the hell happened to ya?"

Behind me, Buffy's laughin'.

"Oh! I see what's going on!" She says, and everyone turns to her.

"What are ya talkin' about, B?" I ask.

"Look at her! She's much younger than the Willow you know!" I look back at the vamp, and I can see it's true. "Faith, remember we told you about the vampire Willow from another dimension?"

I facepalm. Of course.

"So what the hell are you doin' here?"

"The less fun, super-witch me summoned me back with that girlfriend of hers. Made me a deal. I agreed to it, so now I have to help you get _her_..." Vamp Red nods to Buffy, "to wherever you're taking her. The other me wouldn't say where exactly that is, unfortunately. Perhaps you could elighten me?"

"Hmm... If Red thinks it's best for you not to know, then I guess I agree. Sorry. Guess you're just along for the ride."

"Yeah."

"SO why no fang marks?" I ask, pointing to the Slayer on the ground.

"I don't like it, but one of the conditions is I can't eat anyone. I guess I'm a veggitarian now. Only animals for me. Though... I can think of a few people I'd really like to... _eat_." She raised her eyebrows suggestively at me, then towards B, S and Dawn.

"So, you _vegg_itarian, or _vag_itarian?" I ask with a smile. Looks like I recruited some more help, after all. Or, Red and T did, anyway.

"Both." Vamp Red returned my grin.

"Let's get out of here." Lexi growls, and she handcuffs the Slayer spy.

"Slayers!" Lex says to her group. "We caught Ms. Trescott spying on us, then attempting to carry the information back to the rogues in order to assist them."

"Understood!"

"Just do what you need to do quickly, Faith. My Slayers and I will be spreading the word around the other squads. You shouldn't be troubled by Slayers again." Lex assures me. "But you do realize what's going to happen if this works, right?"

"Yeah." I nod grimly.

"If you get Buffy's soul back, the Watcher's Council won't rest until everyone who helped you do it, along with you and Buffy, are dead. And stay dead."

"Yeah."

"Your only choices will be to run and hide... or fight."

"Yeah."

"Revolution will come."

"Yeah."

"It'll be us against the Watchers and any Slayers who remain loyal to them."

"Yeah."

"Just making sure you're aware of all this."

"I am."

Lex nods, and she and her Slayers leave without another word. I hope I'm ready for this, 'cause we may have avoided killin' anyone today, but we won't get so lucky once we get B's soul back. War _will_ come. And it'll be my fault. And chances are, I'm probably gonna have to lead the Slayers against their own friends. God, I hope I'm ready.


	11. Chapter 11

**Risen**

**AN: So, recently, I've had a new category added to the site. It's in the books section, and it's called Morcyth Saga. The Morcyth Saga is a series of books by Brian S. Pratt that I really enjoy reading, so I'm sooooooo excited that I can do fanfiction on it! I've got a story started in it already, so if anyone reading this also reads the Morcyth Saga, you should check out my story based on it! It's called "The Circle of Gods". I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys have to say about it!**

**Chapter 11...**

"So what the hell am I supposed to call you, Red? 'Cause I can't call ya Willow, even though you _are_ Willow. Fuck, this is gettin' confusin'. So what should I call ya?"

"Don't matter much to me. Willow is such a prissy name, ya know. Something more badass or something. Hmm... How about Thorn? Or Ivy?"

I smirk. "What's with the plant names, "Ivy"?"

Vamp Red shrugs. "Don't know, really. Don't care. Just seems more me."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. Ivy it is. So, what are you _really_ here for, Ivy?"

"First of all, you know _my_ name, both of them, but I don't know yours. Have we met before? Did I eat you in the other dimension?" She raises her eyebrows suggestively. Fuck, that's my thing. What the hell? First Buffy, and now even _Willow_ is doin' my thing?! Damn, I need to get a new personality or somethin'. Need to maintain my "one of a kindness".

But I shrug it off. "Don't know if ya met me where you're from. Doubt it. Name's Faith. Faith Lehane." I don't reach to shake her hand.

"Faith, huh? Pretty prissy name you got there yourself." "Ivy" smirks.

I growl. "It's _my_ name. Call me prissy again, I fuckin' _dare_ you."

"Vampire." Ivy declares, smirking.

"Slayer." I growl and a look of panic crosses her face.

"Wait, seriously? Thought for sure that Sushi girl behind you was the new Slayer."

"It's Satsu." S growls, and I laugh on the inside. "And I _am_ a Slayer."

"Wait, there are _still_ two active Slayers? Damn. Thought that that black girl and Buffy were supposed to be the dynamic duo?"

"Kendra's dead." I tell her. "And Buffy's a vamp now, too."

"Yeah, so my better half tells me."

"What?"

"The not so fangy version of me."

"Oh. Red. Anyway, there are thousands of Slayers now."

Ivy's eyes pop out of her head.

"How the fuck did _that_ happen?!"

"Your "better half" cast a spell usin'a weapon forged specifically for the Slayers, and activated them _all_."

"Holy shit!"

"Yeah."

"So... So the other me really is some badass witch, huh?" Ivy gets a look in her eye that I don't think I like. "Damn, I'm really gonna enjoy fucking her senseless. Her and her girlfriend."

"What? Mind tellin' me what you're talkin' about? No way in hell Red's gonna let you touch her or T."

"Wanna bet? That's the deal."

"Deal?" Buffy speaks for the first time since Vamp Red got here.

"Yeah. The witches offered me a deal. Told me to come help you guys get the vampire/Slayer to some place, wherever you're taking her, so she can take a test. Then, I'm supposed to take the same test, and in return, they won't send me back to my world, where I was about to die, and they'll let me fuck them any time I want."

I can't help myself. I laugh. And everyone looks at me like I'm insane.

"I'm sorry, but what the hell is goin' on with everyone?!" I scream into the air. "For fuck's sake! We're supposed to be _killin' _vampires! Not fuckin' them! And now, seems like _everyone's_ fuckin' some kinda vamp! I'm a Slayer! Buffy was a Slayer! We _kill_ vampires, we don't fuck them! And then, she goes off and fucks Angel, then she fucks Spike! Both of them vampires! Now Red and T are gonna be fuckin' a vampire! And on top of all that, _I_ wanna fuck a vampire! What the fuck is goin' on?!" My emotions get the better of me, and I haul off and slam my fist into a tree, the force of which causes the tree to groan, and bark fly off the other side. My fist gets splinters buried inside it, and I think I broke it, so I pull back and whimper at the pain. But at least I relieved some of the tension.

"Fuck!" I cry under my breath and fight back the tears of pain. I hold my fist, damn near cradlin' it, and both Buffy and Ivy's eyes go wide at the sight of my blood.

S is the first one to walk up and put her hand on my shoulder, and I find I'm actually grateful that she's here.

"I understand, Faith." She whispers, and I know she does. "I love her, too. Or, I did. I liked the old Buffy better thanIlike this one. I don't really like this Buffy at all."

"Yeah. Me neither. She has her moments where it seems like she's still the same old Buffy, but then she does somethin' totally outrageous that the Buffy we know and love would never do. And it reminds me that she's just an empty shell now. A shadow of Buffy. That's the real reason I wanna get her soul back. I just wanna see the old Buffy again. I wanna see her smile again, like she used to. I wanna hear her laugh again. I wanna look into her eyes and see that she loves me. The way I used to see it, but was too afraid to make a move. I wanna see her flustered again whenever I crack one of my famous sexual jokes and innuendos. I wanna see her blush whenever somethin' I say puts her mind in the gutter and know that she's actually picturin' it in her mind. I never told her... but I loved seein' her blush. Loved it so much, I couldn't breathe when I saw it. I want all that again." I fall silent and look over at Satsu, who's lookin' at the ground. "I... I'm sorry. I know you love her, too. Not tryin' to start somethin'."

"No, I... I get it. She was yours first. I might have slept with her, but her heart never belonged to me. It always belonged to you. Always. I mean, when she told me she wasn't gay, after we slept together, I knew she really meant she wasn't gay _for me_. It was always you. And once we get her soul back, it'll be for you, too. You two belong to each other. You completely own each other, and I have no place in that. It's why I got myself assigned to the Japan Branch. Because I can't stand being around Buffy knowing she'll never be mine. That's why, once I help you get her soul back, if I'm still alive, I'm going back to Japan. I'll be more useful in Japan, anyway. Lexi was right when she said revolution will be coming. And it won't just come in America. It'll happen all around the world. Watchers and Loyals against the Free-Thinking Slayers. You're going to need forces around the world, too."

I nod. "Yeah. But you know... I'm not sure if bein' around Buffy once we get her soul back will be good for either of us. Even with a soul, she'll still be a vampire. She won't be feedin' on people, but I'll still have to find some way to get her some food, and I'm not sure I could stomach that. Killin' evil, that I can do, and sleep like a baby. But bringin' live animals to Buffy so she can drink their blood... That's gonna be tough. I'll do it, because I can't stand not bein' around her. But I'm sure, in the long run, it's probably a bad idea. It probably would have been better if I'd drove a stake through her heart before she came back."

"Probably." S agrees, and we turn back to rejoin the rest of the group.

"We'd better get movin'. Probably not that far from our destination." I say, and everyone follows me. Luckily, it's night out, so Ivy's not burstin' into flames right now. But we'd better get movin' fast, or she'll be a pile of dust within the next hour or so.

...

We barely made it to a town in time for sunrise. We're holed up in a little motel room for the night, with the windows drawn closed to keep the sunlight out. Buffy and Ivy are gettin' along great now, and they're both gettin' _really_ close. Too close for me. Seems that they're both extremely horny right now, and if they go much longer, then I think they'll decide to settle their urges with each other. But, soon enough, they'll have their souls back, and that won't be an issue. Buffy'll be mine soon, and I guess Ivy'll be gettin' it on with Red and T.

"Ugh. I'm so fucking bored." Ivy complains for the fifth time in five minutes. It's startin' to grate on my nerves. And probably everyone else's too, at least those of us who have nerves that actually work.

"What the hell do you want _me_ to do about it?" I growl back at her.

"We could play a game." Ivy says with what I'm sure she thinks is a pretty fuckin' sexy smirk.

"Not gonna work. Not so easy to seduce me. I _do_ the seducin'. I don't _get _seduced."

"Unless the one doing the seducing just happens to have blonde hair, perky tits, a firm ass and goes by the name of _me_." Buffy points out, and I turn away to hide my blush. Buffy and Ivy laugh at me, and I'm startin' to get pissed.

"Well, what game did you have in mind?" Dawn asks Ivy.

"Oh, please, for fuck's sake, don't encourage her." I beg her, but the damage is done.

"We could play strip poker." Ivy says with a grin.

"No cards." I deflect, and she pouts. Not that we'd play strip poker, even if we did have cards. No way in hell.

"Fine. Then how about... Strip Twenty Questions?" Ivy asks, and Buffy perks up. I roll my eyes.

"No. No strippin'. None whatsoever."

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Faith on this one." S says, and Dawn and Oz nod. Buffy and Ivy frown.

"Come on, Faithy, loosen up. Isn't that what you used to tell me?" Buffy stands and walks slowly over to me, putting her arm around my waist. I push her away, though. Can't stand bein' that close to B and not bein' able to touch her. And I'm not gonna touch just some _monster_ the way I wanna touch B.

"Us loosenin' up got a man killed, a mayor turned into a demon, and me stabbed with my own knife. Pretty sure that loosenin' up for us is not a good thing."

"Oh, I don't know, I sure seem to remember enjoying loosening up with you. That night was so much... _fun_." Buffy nearly moans into my ear, and the memory of that night brings shivers down my spine. I know exactly what she's talkin' about, but everyone else is lookin' at me in confusion.

"Faith? What's she talking about?" Dawn asks. I avert my eyes.

"Well, you see Dawnie-" I punch Buffy on instinct to shut her up.

"Hey! Mum's the word! Remember?! We swore we'd never talk about it again! Not in front of other people!" I growl, and Buffy's surprized, but I can tell she's turned on by my sudden dominatin' act of aggression. I relax and look down at my fist. "Fuck." I whisper. "Look, I'm sorry, B..."

"Why are you apologizing?" Buffy asks with a smirk. "I'm a vampire, you're a Slayer. You should have killed me long before now."

"I'm not gonna kill you, B... Buffy..."

She sighs in disappointment.

Dawn, Oz, S, and even Ivy are all still lookin' at me in confusion, though. Apparently, they're not gonna drop the subject of what happened that night. Not until they get an answer. So, I guess I can edit it a bit.

"Fuck. Fine. Buffy and I went out and took out a nest of vamps in broad daylight. Caught 'em by surprize. Killed 'em all. Didn't get a scratch. You all know how Slayers get after an intense fight like that. H&H, ya know? Hungry and horny. Well, obviously we weren't gonna do anythin' about the latter right then, but the former was easily taken care of. We went out and got a couple burgers, and I told Buffy I was headin' to the Bronze later that night, wanted to know if she wanted to come with. She said yeah, 'cause I was finally gettin' her to loosen up, so we met up at the Bronze. There was some good dancin' music, so we headed to the dance floor and danced together. Already knew I had the hots for her, so that night probably wasn't a good idea, 'cause I was still so fuckin' horny after the nest. We were dancin' together, workin' up a sweat, and we were bumpin' and grindin' together, and the club was so fuckin' hot, it felt like the AC was fuckin' broken, and we were bakin' under the strobe lights, plus all the body heat around us, we were sweatin' bad, and so we were slick, and it all just added to our arousal. We were gettin' hornier and hornier, and I felt like I was gonna pass out from the pain of it. We were also both drunk off our asses, so I accidentally let it slip. I pulled her in, and I kissed her. She kissed me back, and before I knew it, we were makin' out at a table, barely able to breathe."

Satsu and Dawn's jaws were on the ground, Oz was obviously surprized, though he was maintainin' his usual mask of indifference, and the two resident vampires were both very disappointed in me. Ivy was mad because she was expectin' somethin' hotter than that. I wonder how satisfied she'd be if I actually told the whole story. But Buffy was pissed because I _didn't_ finish the story.

"Oh, come on, Faith, finish the story." Buffy urges, smirkin'. I glare at her. "I seem to remember a more explosive... _finish_."

I groan, because now everyone's staring at me even more expectantly now, except Dawn, who looks like she wants to run out, grab a spoon, and gouge her eyes out.

"Just shut up, would ya, B? No one really wants to hear the rest of it."

"I do." Ivy points out, and she and Buffy smirk. S and Oz are unsure, but Dawn definitely knows she doesn't wanna hear it.

"Okay, fine then." Buffy says, and turns to the group. _Fuck. She's finishin' it._ "Faith creamed herself."

I plop down on the ground, buryin' my face in my hands. Everyone else gasps, and I hear Dawn makin' fake pukin' sounds.

"It's true." Buffy swears. "She started moaning into the kiss, and her breath started shaking more and more, so I pulled away to see what was going on, just in time for her to cream herself. Later, I found out she had a bullet shoved inside her panties, and it was stimulating her the whole time. She usually just did it because the guys like feeling the vibrations when they're dancing with her, and it gets them hot, and makes it easier for her to get them back to her apartment, but it was just too much for her that night, because it was hot in the club, and I was fucking sexy as hell, plus we were still horny from the nest earlier, and it all added up to a pretty massive orgasm on Faith's part.

Everyone glances over at me, waitin' for me to deny it, but I don't even bother, so everyone shifts around uncomfortably. Especially me.

"Damn, that's hot." Ivy says, and Buffy nods towards her.

"Okay, so apparently, it's tell embarassing story time." Oz says, and I look up at him gratefully. He nods to me, showin' he sees my gratitude.

"I got drunk once and played air guitar on stage." Oz confesses. "It was pretty bad. Especially since I tried to sing the song I was playing, and another group was on the stage already." Dawn giggled, and Satsu smiled, obviously imaginin' a drunk Oz doin' a bad air guitar.

"I accidentally invited a vampire into the house once." Dawn says, and none of us were gettin' the embarassin', so we looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Well, the thing is, I used to have this major crush on Xander, and it was when Harmony was trying to be the new big bad vampire." Apparently, I'm not the only one lost. Only Buffy is understanding any part of what Dawn's sayin'. Understandable. I guess Buffy was the only one around whenever this happened. "Anyway, she and Xander were throwing insults at each other across the doorway, because she couldn't come in, and he was taunting her because of it. Eventually, I wanted to show Xander how witty I was, which, apparently, I really wasn't very witty at all, so when Harmony insulted Xander again, I told her, "Well, why don't you come in _here_ and say that." And everyone just kind of glared at me, and I was actually pretty embarassed."

"Not sure that qualifies as embarassing, Dawn." Buffy says with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, pretty weak." Ivy agrees.

"Well, what do _you_ have under your sleeve?" I ask Buffy.

"Challenge accepted." Buffy grins. "Where do I start? Um, first of all, can I just say, "Beer bad"?" I must have missed something. She and Dawn both bust a gut laughin' about that one, but the rest of us are lost again. "Um, let's see, then there was the time that Riley and I were possessed by horny teenage ghosts and forced to have sex for hours and hours without taking a break. The embarassing part is that Xander, Willow and Tara all walked in on us. I also did karaoke once. That was a disaster, as anyone who's ever heard me sing can attest to." Dawn nods frantically, and I smirk. I remember the karaoke incident. She's so bad at singin', she literally broke the machine 'cause of the feedback. "Then there was the time that I had that mind reading power for a while, and I accidentally read my mom's mind and actually _saw_ her memory of having sex with GIles on the hood of a cop car."

The rest of us shudder at the thought.

Buffy sits down and looks at Willow expectantly. The other vampiress shrugs and thinks for a minute. "Damn. Well, really the only embarassing things I can think of happened before I got turned, and it was just all my meaningless rambles."

"Oh yeah?" Buffy smirks. "What about the first time you got brought over to this dimension and you got knocked out, then woke up wearing Willows fzzy pink sweater, leggings and skirt?" Ivy glares at Buffy like she was some kinda She-Devil, and I smirk. I can actually imagine that, and it's fuckin' hilarious.

"Fuck you!" Ivy spits.

"Good idea." Buffy replies. Ivy returns her smirk, and the two of them get _really _close. S and I jump up and separate the two vamps in heat before they stripped each other down and fucked each other in front of all of us.

"What? I like it with an audience." Ivy quips, and I punch her out.

"Stay the fuck away from Buffy!"I shout before I can stop myself, and everyone stares at me in surprize.

_Did I just go all "jealous girlfriend" with Buffy?_ I ask myself. B folds her arms and glares at me, her eyes and lip posture sayin' "Mmhmmm." I turn and storm off outside. I lookup at the sky and see thesun's goin' to set soon. Good. We'll be able to do what we came here to do soon.


	12. Chapter 12

**Risen**

**Chapter 12...**

"Let's do this." I say just as the sun disappears on the horizon. It's dark enough out that Ivy's gonna be able to walk around outside without worryin' about burstin' into flames.

"It's about time." Dawn says. She and the others all walk outside with me and we start down the street. The thing about Soulkeeper demons is that they have such a strong presence about them that Slayers can pinpoint their exact location easily if we're close enough. And we're very close. B, S and I can all sense it. We're exactly five hundred yards south of it. Five hundred yards ain't much. That's only five football fields' length.

But it sure as hell seems longer than that when you've got an army of Watchers around ya.

"Fuck!" I shout, pushin' everyone back into the motel room just as the Watchers on the rooftops open fire. We barely manage to get back into the motel room and close and lock the door without anyone gettin' killed.

Bullets punch through the door and walls of the front wall of the room.

I catch my breath, lettin' the adrenaline fade, and then I notice a look in Buffy and Ivy's eyes that I don't like.

"What are you guys starin' at?" I growl.

"Faith." Dawn says, pointin' at my shirt.

I look down and see blood pourin' out of a hole in my side, drenchin' my shirt, stainin' it red.

"Fuck..." I mutter as the pain starts comin' to the front of my mind, and I hit the ground, barely conscious.

"Stay away from her!" I hear Dawn scream at the two vamps, and I can feel her usin' some kinda magic that scares Ivy off, but Buffy keeps coming.

"Get out of my way, Dawn! She needs me!" Buffy screams, pushin' past Dawn and fallin' to the ground at my side. "Faith, hang in there!"

Her voice is the last thing I hear before the darkness takes me.

...

"-ckily, it passed right through her. It was a clean exit, so I didn't have to dig the bullet out." Someone's sayin' when I finally come back to consciousness. "It didn't hit any major organs, so she'll live. She's in pretty bad shape right now, so I don't think we should let her do anything strenuous for a while, but she'll be fine."

"Hurts like hell, though." I complain.

"Faith?" I hear Buffy ask. I open my eyes and see her sittin' near me, lookin' at me, worried.

"Yeah, it's me." I say, and her eyes harden as the worry fades.

"Good. Dawn says you'll live. Good. 'Cause if the Watchers are willing to start a shootout in the middle of a town with civilians in it, then I'm definitely going to need a bodyguard."

"Damn, B. Ya worried about me?"

"No!" she snaps.

I smirk. "Yeah. Okay. Whatever ya say, B."

"I wasn't! Just don't like seeing blood and not being able to drink it."

I roll my eyes and sit up, groaning.

"Careful, Faith." Dawn says, helpin' me support myself as I slowly get to my feet.

"Damn. Got me good, huh?"

"Yeah. Just lucky it wasn't an inch in any direction. It might have hit something a lot worse than straight up muscle and flesh."

"Yeah. Well, anyone got any ideas on how the hell to get outta here?"

No one says anythin'. "Damn. Come on, do I gotta do everythin' myself?"

"Actually... we've already examined every scenario." Satsu explains, and I turn my attention to her. "This room is surrounded. Only Dawn's shield spell is stopping them from bursting into this room and shooting us all. That, and the general cowardice of the Watchers. They don't want to risk close combat with a couple of Slayers and a Slaypire. But they have long range weapons, and they know how to use them. If any of us try to go outside, we're dead. Well... not Buffy. The Gem of Amarra will protect her. But then again, they might just shoot and destroy the gem, and Buffy'll burn up in the sunlight. There's no way for us to all get to where we need to go. Not with Watchers surrounding us. There's only one thing we can do, Faith."

"No!" I say, knowin' full well what she's suggestin'. B knows, too.

"No!" She agrees. "We can't do that! They'll just kill us!"

"It's the only way." Satsu says quietly.

I turn around, cursin'.

"Fine. What do we do?"

...

"Fine. I'll do it. This was all my stupid idea, anyway. Give me that bed sheet." I say, pointin' to the bed. Dawn hands me the sheet, and I hold it above my head as I step outside. I'm blinded by the sunlight outside. I must've been out a while.

The Watchers on the roof must've seen my makeshift flag of peace, 'cause I don't get shot down immediately.

"Who's in charge here?!" I shout up to them, and a Watcher walks out of the building across the street from us.

"I am."

_Holy fuck. _"Wesley?!"

** (Insert Buffy theme song here.)**

"Hello, Faith." He says, not meetin' my eyes. He takes his glasses off and cleans them with a rag from his pocket.

"I need to talk to ya, then." I growl.

He nods and motions for me to follow him.

"What is this about?" Wesley asks when we're alone.

I sigh. _Guess I'm negotiatin' with him, then._

"Look, could we make this a _private_ meetin', please?" I ask. He nods and turns off his walkie-talkie, and removes his earpiece. "Okay, all we need is a cell phone and some medical supplies."

"Medical?" He asks, narrowin' his eyes.

I nod and lift my shirt up enough to show him the makeshift bandage around my abdomen, coverin' the bullet hole.

"I see. And what makes you think we'll agree to give you this cell phone and medikit?"

"Um... I don't know... Call it a favor."

"I'm sorry, Faith. I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Please, Wes. Help us out, will ya? We're your friends. I'll even look past the whole votin' against us thing." I plead with him. "This fuckin' gunshot wound hurts like a mother! I at least need somethin' for the pain."

"Will you agree to surrender if we give you the phone and medical supplies?"

I hesitate and slump in a chair in front of him. I close my eyes and take a deep, shudderin' breath.

"Yes. I'll surrender. I'll come back with you guys." I choke up as I speak. "I'll... I'll stand trial for treason..." His surprize is evident, but he nods and hands me his cell phone and a first aid kit. "Ya need to let me go back to them real quick, though." I say, and he narrows his eyes.

"Why on Earth would I let you do that?"

"Look, Wes, no way we're gonna make it past you, right? I mean, we're in a tiny-ass motel room with one window and one door, and we've got an army of Watchers surroundin' us with assault rifles and snipers on the rooftops. I said I'm gonna surrender to ya, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do. I know how this is gonna end. Either way, I'm gonna die. I surrender, I die, I fight, I die. And the way things are right now, if I tried to fight, I'd go down before I could even touch one Watcher. So I wouldn't exactly take three of you guys out with me, like I've always said I would. I always said I'd take out three of my enemies with me when I died. But that's not gonna happen either way now. I may be crazy when it comes to fightin', but I'm not stupid. I don't stand a chance. None of us do. But I'd rather go out doin' the right thing than just gettin' shot in the head 'cause I was too proud, too stupid to see that I don't stand a chance. If I turn myself in, then I'll at least get to choose my mode of execution. And I choose death by vampires. I'll just take a stake with me, and take out as many of those creature of the night sons of bitches as possible before I die. That's how I always wanted to go out, anyway."

"Faith, don't play games with me. I know you better than you think."

"I don't doubt that. Look, all I wanna do is say goodbye, okay?"

"Goodbye? Why would you need to say goodbye? You're all going to the same place."

"No, we're not."

"But you said..."

"I said _I'd_ surrender. Didn't say anythin' about B and Dawn and the others. That's up to them. But if I know them, and I'm willin' to bet I do, they're not gonna surrender. See, they're all more stubborn than I am. They won't accept that we've lost." I smirk. "Fact, if I know them, they're probably taking out the Watchers on the rooftops right now."

Wesley looks alarmed. He quickly grabs his walkie-talkie and turns it back on. Instantly, screams can be heard on the other end of the line as B and the others follow through with the plan.

**... Flashback ...**

** I turn around, cursin'. **

** "Fine. What do we do?" **

** "We'll need a distraction, something to draw the Watcher's attention away from the motel room so we can climb out the window." Satsu says. "It need to be something big, and very noticeable. Faith, since you're wounded, it should probably be you that's the distraction, especially since you're pretty much the one in charge of this entire mission."**

** "Right. Got an idea of what the distraction could be, anyway." I agree.**

** "Good. Then, when you're distracting the Watchers, we'll climb out the window and keep to the shade so Ivy doesn't burst into flames, as well as to keep ourselves hidden. Now, we'll probably need to draw blood."**

** "Don't mind sheddin' Watcher blood." I say, and Satsu nods in agreement. **

** "Right. That's good, because we're probably going to be shedding a lot of it. Dawn did a quick birds-eye-view spell a little bit ago, and there are a total of three snipers on the rooftops, on three different buildings. We'll need to take them by surprise. It'll need to be me, Dawn, and Oz taking the snipers out."**

... Present ...

Satsu creeps up behind the sniper to the south of the motel. He, like the other Watchers, is completely oblivious to the fact that the motel room is empty. Satsu pulls a small mirror out of her pocket and holds it at an angle, catching the rays of sunlight, and sending up the signal to Oz and Dawn that she's in position. She sees Dawn and Oz's signal, too, and they all simultaneously sneak up behind their respective targets and knock them out with rocks to the heads. They then reflect the rays of sunlight towards the ground, signalling Buffy and Ivy.

**... Flashback ...**

** "Why you, D, and Oz?" I ask Satsu.**

** "Because bullets can kill us. They can't kill Ivy and Buffy. We'll be sneaking up on the snipers, taking them by surprise, so we'll be at a decreased risk. Ivy and Buffy can't be killed by bullets, so they'll need to stick to the shadows and make their way across the street to one of the buildings with Watchers. Chances are, they'll be spotted, and the Watchers will open fire. The bullets can't kill them, so they'll do whatever it takes to take the Watchers out."**

... Present ...

Ivy and Buffy burst into the room, and just as Satsu predicted, the Watchers opened fire. How stupid of them to not have a single wooden stake nearby. Or holy water. They had crucifixes, but neither vampire was concerned about those, because while crucifixes hurt to touch, they wouldn't kill them unless exposed to them for very long periods of time. Buffy wouldn't be killed by them at all, thanks to the Gem of Amarra.

Buffy and Ivy are riddled with bullets, but they charge, tearing into the Watchers like demons. Technically, they are demons, but still. The Watchers scream as the vampires tear into each of their throats, not bothering to drink, just killing. Soon, the last Watcher falls, and Buffy holds her arm out the window in the sunlight, signaling Satsu, who is watching for that with her Slayer sight. Satsu, in turn, signals Dawn and Oz with the mirrors.

**... Flashback ...**

** "Okay, so that takes care of the snipers and one squad of Watchers, but how many squads are there total?" I ask.**

** "Five total." Satsu explains. "And that brings us to stage three. By then, we actually **_**need**_** the Watchers to figure out what's going on."**

** "Why?"**

** "Because, after Buffy and Ivy kill the Watchers, they're going to set up a little surprise for the other Watchers just outside that building. While you're serving as a distraction, Faith, you'll need to keep the leader away from the radio, prevent him from knowing what's going on. Watchers won't make a move without their leader's command. So, keep him occupied for about ten to fifteen minutes so we can get everything set up, then make sure he gets on the radio, and figures out exactly which squad was killed, and have all of the other Watchers try to ambush us in that building. When the other squads of Watchers get to that building, Buffy and Ivy are going to already be back at the motel, and it'll be too late for the Watchers to stop us." Satsu smiles victoriously.**

... Present ...

"Bloody hell!" Wesley curses, and I sit back in the chair, relaxin'. Suddenly, the screams die out, and I know the last Watcher will have fallen. "Mr. Barron! Which squad was that?!" Wesley shouts into the radio.

_"Mr. Price! I do believe that was squad six!"_

"Then have all other squads converge on squad six's position! Destroy the Gem of Amarra and kill the Slaypire! Kill the others as well!"

_"And Lehane?"_

Wesley curses. "She is of no consequence at the present. Take the others out."

_"Yes sir!"_

_ Like takin' candy from a baby_. I think to myself as I grin. Seems it went off without a hitch.

...

Satsu, Dawn, Oz, Buffy, and Ivy all get back to the motel and keep an eye on the building across the alley from them. They see no less than twenty Watchers slowly proceed inside, and Buffy and Ivy grin, baring their fangs as they look to Satsu for her signal. Both vampires hold in their hands detonators. The thing is, these Watchers had planned on blowing up the building with everyone inside. An explosion works on humans and vampires alike, and while the explosion couldn't kill Buffy when she's wearing the Gem of Amarra, it would disorient her enough for them to get in, remove the Gem of Amarra and kill her before she could recover. But they wouldn't get a chance to test that theory, as Buffy and Ivy had utilized the explosives themselves

"Now." Satsu says as the last Watcher enters the building. Not all of them would be killed by the explosion, but being crushed under several tons of rock would kill them dead, anyway.

**... Flashback ...**

** "Okay, and what about me?" I ask.**

** That's where Satsu falls silent.**

** "S? What about me?" I ask again. Buffy and everyone else looks over at her in concern.**

** "That's the one thing that I don't think we'll be able to do." **

** "What do you mean?"**

** "Get you out. I don't think we'll be able to do. Especially when you're injured." I start to protest, but she keeps going. "When that explosion happens, it's going to call any reinforcements the Watchers have within five miles, and they'll be here in about five minutes. That would either be enough time to go back in and get you... Or push on and lose the Watchers long enough to accomplish the mission."**

** I fall silent.**

** "That means we need to make a choice. No... **_**you**_** need to make a choice, Faith. What's more important? Getting you out... or finally accomplishing what we're here to accomplish? What **_**you**_** came here to accomplish?"**

** I slump against the wall, and Buffy snorts.**

** "Please. Like that's gonna happen." She says, and everyone turns their heads to her. "Obviously we're going to go back for her. I mean, we're all any of us has left, much as I hate it. Separate, none of us will survive long against the Watchers. I may not care much about humanity or anything, but I do care about myself, and myself isn't going to last long without help. Not against all of the Watchers. If it were twenty or less Watchers, I'd say sayonara to the lot of you. But we're talking hundreds of thousands of Watchers all around the world. So again, we're all gonna need each other."**

** "That's real inspirin', B." I say, gettin' everyone's attention. "But you're forgettin' somethin'. This is **_**my **_**decision. It's **_**my**_** decision whether or not to ave you guys leave me behind. And I say that's exactly what you guys are gonna do. Like S says, either you guys can get me out, or go for the Soulkeeper, but not both, especially with me in the condition I am. Yeah, it's not bad, but I'll still slow you guys down. Even if we say screw the Soulkeeper, I'll slow you guys down, and they'll catch up with us within days, and kill us all anyway. So here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna do this little plan Satsu set up, then you're gonna make a break for the Soulkeeper. Ivy and Buffy are gonna get their souls back, then you're all gonna run. You're gonna run like hell, and you're not gonna look back. You're gonna spread the word about the comin' war. You're gonna rally the forces of the Slayers, recruit as many as possible, and you're gonna beat the Watchers.**

** "You're gonna set things right, and say to hell with the Watchers. Do away with every one of them that doesn't join your side. The ones that do, let them act solely as advisors, or some shit like that. You're gonna make sure that shit like this doesn't happen again, okay?" Everyone but Ivy has tears in their eyes. I'm stunned to see that even Buffy is in tears.**

** "Faith, no. You... You can't do that. You can't do that to me!" She cries, then collapses beside me. Everyone is silent in shock at the way Buffy's sobbin' into my chest right now. "I'm scared, Faith, please!" She sobs, and I find my arms wrappin' around her outta instinct.**

** "What are you scared of?" I ask. "You're invincible right now."**

** "I'm scared...! I'm scared... that I'm going to lose... to lose myself!"**

** "What?"**

** Buffy tilts her head up to look me in the eye. "I'm scared that I'm going to lose myself, Faith. If I get my soul back. I've done things that I know I'll have nightmares about once I have my soul back. I've taken human lives, lots of them. But more importantly, I'm... I'm scared I'm going to lose you."**

** That revelation takes us all by surprise. "What?" I ask again.**

** "I'm scared I'm going to lose you. I'm scared that if we leave you behind, I'm never going to see you again. I... I love you, Faith."**

** I blink away the tears in my eyes. "Stop it, B. Stop lyin'."**

** "I'm not, Faith. I love you. I never stopped loving you, even after I got bitten. Even after I rose from my grave. I couldn't handle it at first, that's why I really wanted to kill you. I wanted to kill you because I was freaking out. I was a new vampire, something I'd hated for years, and yet, I was still in love with you. I wigged, and I hated you because you were a reminder of what I'd lost, because I still loved you. And I still do. I love you, Faith. I can't lose you."**

** "Just shut up, okay? Stop lyin' to me. It's not right, this has to be some sorta joke."**

** Then, Buffy does something I never would have expected from her, even when she was alive, but especially as a vampire. She makes the first move.**

** She crashes her lips against mine in a passionate kiss that feels exactly how I'd imagined my first kiss with Buffy to have been like when she was alive, only much better. I can feel everything I feel for Buffy reflected by her lips, and the rest of the world, Dawn, Oz, Satsu, Ivy, the Watchers outside, the danger all around us, the hell we're about to raise, it all just melts away, leaving only the two of us. We're surrounded by darkness, yet I've never felt happier. I've spent the last few years staying away from the darkness, keeping to the light, trying hard not to become that monster I used to be, the monster that shut herself down after killing the Deputy Mayor of Sunnydale, the monster that willingly, and even took joy in killing an innocent scientist that had no idea what I was working for. I know I can't avoid the darkness anymore, because I know that's where my future lies. If I'm going to survive, if any of us are going to survive, I'm going to have to embrace the darkness again. **

** And yet, I'm okay with that. I'm actually glad. I can find peace in that knowledge, because I know Buffy's going to be there with me. We'll be together, side by side. God help anyone who tries to stand in the way of that future.**

** I find myself kissing her back, and I can feel her fangs on my tongue. The feeling sends shivers down my spine. I love it. I love **_**her**_**. Finally, she pulls back, smiling, tears welling up in her eyes, and I'm outta breath. I pull her back down, though, and we kiss again, even more passionately than before, and when we separate, I know I could definitely get used to this feeling of breathlessness. Hell, I love the feeling. I don't think I can ever get enough of it.**

** "So what do we do, Faith?" Satsu asks. **

** I turn to the rest of the group and see determination and loyalty in each of their eyes, 'cept of course, Ivy. Loyalty to me. If I asked them to, every one of them would take a gun and put a bullet in their own brain, and not because I've enslaved them, but of their own free will. That kinda loyalty is rare, and I can see it in every one of them. None of them will question me, or each other. We're more than a team. We're more than friends. We're a family. **

** "What do we do?" Satsu asks again.**

... Present ...

A loud explosion rocks the town outside, and I smile, knowin' we've won. Wesley looks at me, alarmed.

"What's the matter, Wes?" I ask, smirkin'.

"What have you done?" He whispers.

"Not sure, but I think we just killed the rest of your Watchers. You're alone, Wes. It's just you."

"And I suppose you're going to just walk out that door now?"

"Nope."

"Then your friends are going to come to your rescue?"

My smile grows slightly, though it's more a smile of sadness. Of irony.

_I love you, B. I'm sorry it had to be this way. _I think to myself.

**... Flashback ...**

** "What do we do?" Satsu asks again, and I look back to Buffy. Her grin fades, and the tears of grief and anger come back when she sees the apology in my eyes.**

** "Run for it." I say. "This changes everythin', but it changes nothin' at the same time. I'll still only slow you down. I'll leave it up to you guys whether you go for the Soulkeeper or not. But leave me."**

... Present ...

"Then your friends are going to come to your rescue?"

"No." I say. "Looks like I'm comin' back with you, Wes."


	13. Author's Note

**Risen Sequel...**

** For those of you who were expecting another update, I'm sorry. "Risen" IS complete. No further updates will be added, but keep your eye out for the sequel! I WILL be continuing "Risen" with a sequel, and have actually already begun writing the first chapter of the sequel. Come back in a few days, and the first chapter of "Fallen", the sequel to "Risen", should be posted. I hope you enjoy it!**


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